


Deadlock

by Ajax the Great (Ajax_the_Great), The Jingo (The_King_in_White)



Series: Two Realms Belonging to Man [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe, Angst, Depression, F/F, F/M, Female Uzumaki Naruto, Genderbend, M/M, Multi, Politics, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-12
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-20 08:18:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4780328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ajax_the_Great/pseuds/Ajax%20the%20Great, https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_King_in_White/pseuds/The%20Jingo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin never falls to the darkness within, and remains loyal to Konoha. The future (especially that of three young genin-to-be) is changed forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Graduation Exam

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Team 7's Ascension: Blood Wings](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/181942) by Eilyfe. 



> "Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words."

A faint buzz of electricity zapped through his right hand, flaring pain receptors to produce a sharp ache. Jolted awake, Uchiha Sasuke rolled over to peer at the darkened sky through his window.

The dim early morning drowned out the stars, leaving the sky a featureless smear of indigo save for a bright white rim along the eastern horizon, heralding the dawn.

Sasuke shook the last dregs of numbness out of his fingers and slipped the banded iron rings from his digits. Tossing the shock-inducing alarm system into the drawer of his night table, the Uchiha rose from his bed in one practiced motion and fell into a stretch.

Sasuke moved with aching, stiffened joints. Cracks reverberated through the silent house, and muscles tired after a late night training session began to activate. The shower beckoned his groggy mind, and the boy meandered from his room and down the hall to step into the bathroom.

Nearly scalding hot water pounded down on Sasuke, seeping through raven locks and traveling down pale flesh in searing ribbons. All need to sleep fled from the Uchiha, and while staring at conspicuously sparkling porcelain tiles Sasuke began to scrub his body with abandon.

Perhaps the house was kept too clean and too empty to belong to a normal twelve year old boy, but Sasuke never claimed to be normal. Not since _that_ night. The night of bloody screams and bloody walls and bloody-

Hands. Pain seared through his palms and dragged Sasuke back from the tide of memory to stare at the white crescents his nails had dug into his flesh.

Shutting off the shower taps with a jerk, Sasuke reached out and snagged a towel from the silvery metal rack hammered into the wall. Drying his body with efficient movements, Sasuke strode from the shower and – carefully – dropped the used towel in a wicker laundry basket lurking by the door.

Sasuke imagined that keeping his home obsessively clean chased away the shadow of _him_. No man and no blood could hide in the stark empty corners and against constantly disinfected surfaces. And if there was a patch of darkened wood in the center of his parents' former bedroom, Sasuke could ignore the stain.

Throwing on a pair of white shorts and a blue high-collared t-shirt, Sasuke shook the water dripping into his eyes out of his face with a quick jerk and sighed at the pangs of hunger in his stomach.

Breakfast was a subdued affair, like it had almost always been since _that night._ A simple fare of a single glass of milk, a sliced tomato, two pieces of toast, and a handful of dry cereal. Sasuke could hardly even begin to care when his elders pointed out the blandness of his meals and the absolute economy of nutrition his diet employed.

Sasuke didn't even know how to begin demonstrating to bright-eyed young children and misty-eyed old adults that the only taste he craved was a steady diet of vengeance with a dash of murder.

So he kept his head down, shoving hands in his pockets and nodding along as overly-concerned meddling coots expressed meaningless platitudes for his loss and concerns for his well being. Seething all the while at the wasted time he spent not training to become just a little bit faster, or just a little bit stronger.

Stepping out into the cool morning air, Sasuke took a deep breath and began to jog. Down the steps of his lonely home and through the empty streets of his lonely district, the Uchiha moved at a steady, familiar beat.

Sasuke pounded out three warm up laps around the inner walls of the ghostly Uchiha compound before springing out into the streets of Konoha. A few familiar faces gave solemn nods when Sasuke dashed by them, used to day after day, year after year of seeing Sasuke pass along on his morning rounds.

Konoha was huge, the Uchiha supposed. Though Sasuke really had little to compare it to, since it was only place he'd ever lived in and had ever seen. He couldn't weigh it against distant undiscovered cities and towns. His steady run led him to the boundary of the curved southern wall and he turned west to begin a circuit.

Trees flashed by on his left as Sasuke ground the dirt roads of Konoha ever smoother. A familiar cry of "Youth!" sounded on his right, and dark eyes widened in horror before Sasuke turned and pressed into the well kept greenery, pushing his controlled jog into an all-out sprint.

The Uchiha had only ever met Maito Gai once, and that once was more than enough. The green spandex clad jounin was hands-down the oddest individual Sasuke had ever encountered. Unforgivingly exuberant and inappropriately affectionate - if the way he treated a younger green spandex clad genin was any indication.

Still Sasuke may have been willing to forgive or at least forget such glaring faults if the jounin had been willing to take him on and train him. A dedicated taijutsu specialist and high ranking shinobi had to possess a significant degree of skill and ability to pass on techniques that would help him close the gap with _Itachi_.

_I'm just dreaming of tearing you apart._

There was only so much self-directed training could do for Sasuke. The forms taught at the Academy were depressingly basic and pathetically easy to master, good for little but an introduction to self defence and the incapacitation of civilians. It was almost as if he was being intentionally held back.

The infuriating man had only refused, shaking his head and telling Sasuke to wait for his own sensei whenever he graduated to take him on. And noted perhaps the Uchiha might consider attending the Academy more often if he hungered to fan his Youth so desperately.

The refusal didn't stop the cheery jounin from calling out to Sasuke with encouragement when he saw the boy passing by in the mornings before the Academy was scheduled, and scolding him if the Uchiha ran by later in the day during hours when he should have been attending class.

At least the little green clone didn't presume to judge him too.

The Hokage's tower passed in a blur on his right, casting a long, cold shadow that hid Sasuke from the dawn and darkened the looming carved faces of the Hokage on the left.

Sasuke had met the Sandaime many times in the wake of the Massacre, boiling inwardly with rage at the soft looks the old man gave him - his persistent apologies for failing to stop the tragedy. It had taken three days for Sasuke to get sick of the banality and start refusing to speak to the old man.

He never really knew _why_ the Hokage seemed so convinced that he should have noticed something was off about Itachi, when Sasuke didn't scent the monster lurking under his brother's skin himself. It was unmistakably odd. But old people were generally strange. Always so concerned for his well being and pressing him to do this or that.

Umino Iruka had been the worst of them, constantly chasing him through the streets and dragging him back to classes when all Sasuke needed was to get away from all the incredible incompetence of his peers and the predominantly pathetic curriculum of the Academy.

Once he'd learned to evade other chuunin and successfully hide from the concerned teacher, Sasuke never returned to the classroom save to complete the tests that were absolutely necessary for him to pass. Apparently, his absence were borderline legendary.

Sasuke sneered inwardly as he crossed over a small river, garish red planks trailing under his feet as his body automatically leapt up and dashed over thin crimson handrails.

A pale-skinned man with golden eyes directed a blink his way as the Uchiha moved to avoid collision, passing out of Sasuke's mind before he even touched back down on the grass on the opposite side of the river.

Time was wasting, and as much as Sasuke loathed the thought, he needed to actually attend the Academy later on. Missing his own graduation would be an unmitigated disaster.

* * *

Orochimaru shook his head with amusement as the red-faced, puffing younger brother of Itachi passed him without a word. The Sennin recalled whispers of that boy, lurking alone in his clan compound when the rest of his decimated family was scattered to the corners of Konoha. He'd broken some important politician's son's jaw when the lad had the gall to call him ' _dobe'_.

Hiruzen had laughed about it for days.

Perhaps Itachi's brother would amount to something interesting one day, though Orochimaru loathed the thought of losing the elder, an extremely well-placed spy, to his own manipulative desires. Still, it was ultimately up to Itachi how he wanted die; if he wanted to be killed by the hands of his obviously broken younger brother, that was his choice to make.

It wasn't as if Itachi's bloody and shadowy services to Konohagakure didn't deserve the dignity of choosing his own death.

The Sennin shuddered to think what would have become of the Uchiha clan if he hadn't intervened on their behalf, pointing out that while it was necessary to destroy all adults that could be linked to the coup, it would be a waste to slaughter children too young to know anything.

In another world, perhaps Sasuke would have truly been the last of the Uchiha clan, target of all the hopes and adoring legends associated with their legendary dojutsu. As it was, the boy was merely one of a dwindled family, and most importantly to the public, _that traitor's_ brother.

Imagining a world without the Sharingan sickened the scientist. It would have been an extravagantly terrible waste of valuable data and samples.

* * *

Yawning awake, Naruko trudged through her morning ablutions with the grace of the walking dead. Stumbling over numerous piles of dirty laundry, well-read scrolls, and braces of kunai, the Academy's Top Rookie managed to tug on her signature orange jumpsuit and make her way to the kitchen.

Naruko yanked open her creaky cupboard, dancing fingers longingly across stacks of cup ramen before tugging out a box of oatmeal with a grumble. As much as the blonde would have loved to eat her favorite food for her Graduation Day breakfast, she had a feeling that Ero-Sennin would have kicked her ass for it. Like the old perv had the first time he'd visited her in the morning and found her happily slurping down the salty noodles.

Making an ugly face at the bland grains, Naruko shoved a kettle on her stove and folded her arms to wait for the water to boil. The blonde's mind wandered, idly considering her various classmates for the likelihood that she'd be assigned to a Team with them. No real preference came to mind, save for a desperate hope that Sakura would find herself on any team but her's.

If that knowitall had the same placement as her, Naruko might just have to kill herself. Or preferably the pink banshee.

A low whistle signaled that the water was done, and with another frown the blonde poured it into her waiting bowl of oats. Sugar and milk followed, and Naruko scarfed down the meal without waiting to deal with its lack of taste or even sit at her small table.

Casting one last glance at the cupboard containing her beloved ramen, Naruko slipped on a pair of zori. The door stood shut, cutting out a world of cold eyes and foreboding whispers, and the blonde found herself sucking in a shaky breath.

Naruko slapped her cheeks, screwing on a bright fake grin and muttering "Another day, another Ryo. You'll make it... Always moving forward..." Some days were better than others, requiring the blonde to spend less time psyching herself up to take her lonely world.

Graduation day cut into her mantra, and the jinchuuriki gave a truer grin at the door before yanking it open. "Today's the day I'm going to be a real ninja, dattebayo!"

Blue skies without a cloud in sight arched overhead as Naruko shuffled from her apartment. Casting a quick, wary look at the clean streets around her, the blonde stifled the instinctive dissonance. Adapting to a well-policed, well-maintained, and wholesome district of Konoha was taking a lot longer than Naruko would have liked.

Growing up in the slums left its mark, and if not for Ero-Sennin finding out just where she'd been subsisting and insisting she moved, Naruko was sure she'd still be wandering those dirty streets. Somehow she doubted she'd ever grow out of the instinctive need to look around for wandering thugs and thieves.

Hebi-jiji just laughed and told her that it was the mark of a good kunoichi to be so suspicious. Naruko wondered if that meant that all ninja were paranoid wrecks.

The jinchuuriki took off down the road at a light jog, hopping around bleary eyed civilians that were trotting off to their jobs. Excitement bubbled up from her toes, and Naruko didn't bother containing the grin fighting to rise on her lips.

Indulging in a touch of idle fantasy, Naruko imagined the kind of missions she and her team would be taking as real ninja. Stories of bright heroes fighting slimy villains in a thousand different tales flashed through her thoughts, and Naruko cast herself in dozens of roles.

Perhaps she could be the one to save the Daimyo's daughter. Or the one that crushed a criminal gang. Maybe she'd become famous for being the most powerful kunoichi to ever live?

But first, Naruko had to make genin. Easy as cake.

Trailing through the Academy gates just as the morning bell rung out in a dull clang, Naruko swore and doubled her speed. The blonde shoved through classroom door just as Iruka-sensei moved to close it.

Naruko smirked up at the instructor, looking with undisguised longing at the hitai-ate strapped across the man's tan scarred chuunin gave Naruko a knowing look and tapped his nose before turning back to slide the door shut.

Only to have a pale hand grasp the edge of it and force it back open to admit Uchiha Sasuke.

Iruka blinked rapidly, restraining the inner surge of pity and annoyance. Pity at the circumstances that had changed Sasuke so much from the generally good natured boy his early enrollment records spoke of. And annoyance at the boy's insistence of skirting the rules at every turn.

Giving a quick scan for any other tardy students, Iruka closed the door and strode back to the front of the classroom. The chuunin observed Naruko and Sasuke trailing quietly up to settle in the seats at the very back row before clapping his hands and roaring over the chattering class.

"Quiet down!"

Silence reigned instantly, the children straightening up at the stern gaze Iruka pinned them with. A heartbeat passed, before a warm smile crossed the chuunin's face.

"As you all know," Iruka began seriously, "Today is the last day the Academy will be in session until September. We will be hosting your Graduation Exams in short order. For those of you who have taken the test twice already and failed, another failure will lead to your expulsion from the Academy."

Brown eyes turned sharp and faint concern touched into the instructor's tone. "Therefore if you are not confident in your ability to succeed in all aspects of the exam, I strongly urge you to consider opting out and signing up for another year of instruction. Please note that no child over the age of fourteen will be admitted to the Academy without special consent."

"There will be a written exam, followed by a taijutsu demonstration. After a short fifteen minute break, we will proceed with a test of your ability to resist basic genjutsu and finish with a testing of your mastery of the Kawarimi, the Henge, and the Bunshin."

Staring pointedly at Chouji, Iruka felt compelled to add that under no circumstances were students permitted to leave the Academy until all exams were finished. Not even for lunch.

"Mizuki-sensei will be passing out your written exams now. The written exam will double as a yearly final for those who choose to return next year. Just notify myself or Mizuki-sensei during the taijutsu demonstration if you wish to be excused." With a nod to the silver haired chuunin, Iruka motioned to the nervous students.

Mizuki gave a reassuring smile before stepping forward with the thick booklets of paper.

* * *

Haruno Sakura sucked in a steadying breath as Mizuki-sensei dropped an exam booklet on her desk. Gripping a pencil between delicate fingers, the pink-haired girl tossed a quick glance around the room before flipping the papers over and signing her name on the dotted line.

Green eyes flashed down the first page of the exam, and Sakura felt a great surge of relief and confidence as she realized that all the questions were very simple, just basic knowledge of the Shinobi world.

_Please name all to hold the office of Hokage of Konohagakure._

Sneering slightly at the thought that anyone in her class wouldn't be able to answer such an easy question, Sakura scribbled out the four names of Konoha's Hokage. The girl paused briefly as she considered if additional details would earn bonus marks, and decided to chance it.

_'The Sandaime Hokage returned to lead Konoha after the death of the Yondaime in the Kyuubi attack. Uchiha Madara also briefly held the position of Nidaime Hokage Kouho before his betrayal of Konoha.'_

Sakura would love to see the look on Uzumaki's face if she managed to steal the class' top spot in the final exams. It still rankled when she remembered how the former dead last of the class became suddenly competent shortly after they turned nine and ousted her from her position as Top Rookie and the kunoichi with the highest grades.

_Name the five elemental chakra natures._

Scribbling out the five elements, Sakura even scribbled in a brief diagram of their strengths and weaknesses in relation to each other and added a quick note about certain kekkai genkai enabling advanced chakra natures combining two or more of the basic ones.

Sakura chanced a glance to observe her rival, scowling at the utterly relaxed expression on the blonde's face as she filled out her test. Crossing Uchiha Sasuke with her gaze, Sakura turned back her pages and frowned. If she had any choice at all, she wouldn't want to be on a team with _either_ of them. Uzumaki being her chief rival, and Uchiha being an all-around arrogant tardy laggart.

Breezing through the rest of her written exam, Sakura filled out questions on topics such as, what are the names of the Five Great Villages? How many Shinobi World Wars were there? Which of Konoha's Clans were Noble? And on and on, tracing out three pages of general history and chakra theory.

Writing down the final answer – _Who are the Densetsu no Sannin?_ \- Sakura tossed her pencil down and leaned back in her chair. Short pink locks tickled around her ears as the girl wondered vaguely if Ino would do well in her exams. Her best friend would probably cry and demand they eat a tub of ice cream if the she failed.

Lost in her idle musings, Sakura jumped in surprise when Iruka-sensei stepped by, sweeping up her exam booklet with a reassuring smile and proceeding down the row of desks.

A low chatter rose up as the last set of papers was collected, nervous students anxiously comparing the answers they could remember and speculating about what kind of test that teachers had constructed for their Taijutsu exam.

Iruka gave another thunderous, chakra-enhanced clap and ordered the students to line up in single file by the door to a separate exam room.

Sakura blinked before scanning the classroom and setting green eyes on Goto Kasumi. Sidling across the room, Sakura spared a confident smile for Ino and the blonde's nervously wringing hands before filing into the rapidly forming line.

Ignoring her brown-haired classmate as Kasumi began bouncing in anxious tension, Sakura folded her arms across her chest and stared out the window. It was a clear blue day, and the girl let her mind wander.

Once she graduated and had her team assignments, Sakura would have to break the news to her parents that she'd actually become a member of the shinobi forces. The green-eyed girl wasn't blind, and had played witness to more than one argument between her parents as Sakura's enrollment in the Academy steadily became less of an indulgence and more of a reality.

Kizashi and Mibuki were civilian merchants, wealthy enough to sate their daughter's curiosities about the world and even pay for shinobi training. Sakura's parents had long since expected their daughter to drop out of the Academy, and the notion that the girl might actually manage to become a fabled killer more than terrified them.

Yet in Konoha the Hokage's word was law, and once a student was signed over the the Academy they belonged body and soul to the Konohagakure government. Parents gave up the right to withdraw their children from shinobi education once enrolled, and only the student in question had the choice to drop out.

Even dropping out didn't herald an end to Konoha's interest in them, however, and Sakura recalled gossiping whispers in the market about how even dropouts were never free from surveillance. No matter what Sakura chose to do with her life, the shadowy world of shinobi would always have one foot in her life.

"Haruno Sakura!" called Mizuki-sensei, ticking off her name on his list before setting a hand on the girl's shoulder and steering her into the next room.

The room was small, four white walls and two doors. One led back to the classroom with her peers, and one led onward – either to the next stage of exams or into the open world if she chose to opt-out. Painted into the floor, taking up a full third of the space was a bright red ring.

Iruka-sensei sat behind a desk in the far corner, drawing out two sheets of paper.

Iruka beckoned her over, "Sakura-chan," nodding slightly when the girl blinked and began trotting over. "I have two forms for you. One is for you to sign if you're opting out of the exam this year." Dropping a significant hand on the form to her left, he continued. "This one is for you to sign if you're going to continue. It says you recognize that you might be injured in the testing."

Sakura bent over the desk, narrowing green eyes as she scanned the pages and powered through the legalese. One waived her right to compensation for injury, noted that she recognized the exam as a black mark on her record if she failed, and that success would be graded on record available at a later date by request. The other waived her right to privacy if she failed to return to the Academy, noting that she was opting out of the examination.

She inked her name to the form on the left in a large, flowing script.

"Come here Sakura-chan." Mizuki-sensei called out, motioning for the girl to stand opposite to him in the ring. "The test goes on for two minutes." the chuunin explained with a lazy glance to Iruka. "You'll be graded on how well you fight. Don't worry about the Academy forms – we don't grade on them because a lot of our students come from clans with their own taijutsu styles."

"In ten seconds." Iruka called out absently as he began filling out the grade sheets with Sakura's personal information.

After a beat, Sakura darted her gaze to the floor and she fell into the basic Academy stance. "Do I have to stay in the ring, Mizuki-sensei?"

"No." Mizuki disagreed, "But you'll lose points if you get knocked out. Or gain a lot if you knock me out." the chuunin after with a mischievous grin.

A chime jingled as Iruka reached zero, shaking a small hand bell and barking out "Begin!"

Sweat began to bead on Sakura's pale forehead as seconds ticked past, Mizuki-sensei standing casually with his hands at his sides and a bored expression on his face.

"Thirty second mark." Iruka-sensei murmured, brown eyes focused on his student.

Sakura moved, leaping forward with both fists drawn to her sides before letting out a right hook. A hand rose up to slap her fist away. Undeterred, the pinkette threw her left hook to the same result. The pair traded a short repetitive set of blows before Sakura leaned back and drew her knee to her chest. Lashing out with a kick, she grinned when the chuunin brought his arms up and was forced to block the blow.

"One minute mark."

Mizuki shoved her back, moving into an offensive gait and trailing lazy blows. Dodging under and around the man's swinging fists, Sakura took a glance at the utterly bored expression on her sensei's face and burned with humiliation.

The chuunin was utterly toying with her!

Gritting her teeth, Sakura stepped under and into Mizuki's step and drove an angry fist into the man's knee. "Contact!" she shouted in glee. Said knee snapped up a moment later and pushed the pinkette away, bringing her dangerously close to the red line.

"One and a half minute mark."

Sakura dove and rolled, dodging between a marginally surprised Mizuki's legs and spinning to leap onto the man's back. Wrapping her arms around his throat in a chokehold and legs around his waist to keep from being thrown, Sakura hung on for dear life. Mizuki began to twist in sharp movements, growing more exaggerated as he attempted to throw off his surprisingly tenacious student.

Then the ground slammed into her, driving Sakura's breath from her lungs and leaving her staring up at the ceiling with a confused expression. The man had simply collapsed backwards, crushing the girl between his body and the wooden floor.

"Two minute mark."

Mizuki stepped into Sakura's line of vision, stretching a hand down to help her up.

Iruka stepped forward once Sakura regained her bearings, an encouraging look as his face that gave the girl hope for her performance.

"You did well Sakura." Iruka began. "You managed to stay inside the ring for the full two minutes, and even managed to score a strike on Mizuki-sensei. Which is more than many of the students today have been able to do." A odd expression grew on her instructor after a pause. "Keep in mind that this isn't taijutsu class though, Sakura-chan. You shouldn't yell out 'contact!' in the middle of a fight, especially against a potentially deadly enemy."

The man's voice rose with a vague pitch of lecture. "Also, you froze up for the initial thirty seconds. Understandable if you have a taijutsu style based on counterattack and defence - unlike the Academy Basic. But possibly fatal if you don't. You should never hold off combat for that long unless the terrain favors you or you're on a defensive mission. If you had never engaged Mizuki, the point of your 'mission' today, you would have failed the exam."

Face once again red with shame, Sakura nodded wordlessly.

"Good," Iruka grinned. "Now head on through that door, and I'll see you after lunch for the rest of the exams."

* * *

Lunch was ramen. Delicious, salty noodles soaked in broth with pre-packaged seasoning after three minutes over a hot stove. Naruko loved it, gobbling down every succulent bite with furtive glances around the playground.

Ero-Sennin had told her that the blonde was free to eat all the ramen she liked for lunches only on school days, and only if she actually showed up at the Academy. It had only taken three times of attempting to sneak around Jiraiya's rules before Naruko adhered to them with all austere gravity of a police officer upholding the law.

Soaking for hours in a frog's stomach – covered in drool and fly guts and other assorted nasty substances tended to make an impression. Even the stubborn Uzumaki could realize that in some situations, it was better to simply cut her losses.

Ino laughed, a bubbling sound of relief and happiness that drew Naruko's blue eyes to watch the Yamanaka and her best friend chatting amiably at a picnic table. Years had passed since Naruko realized that she couldn't force people to want to befriend her through loudness and constant bothering, as well as some advice from her two father-figures.

Churning under her skin was a familiar mixture of loneliness and jealousy. Naruko tore her gaze from the pair and took in the rest of the students through glazed blue eyes. Forty-nine kids puttered about the Academy grounds in groups with their friends, telling jokes and comparing stories.

The fiftieth student was Uchiha Sasuke, sitting alone under the shadow of a tree and slowly sharpening a kunai with a whetstone as he waited to be called back in for the next part of the Graduation Exam.

Naruko sighed, shoving apart the instinct that made her want to wander over and talk to the boy. More than once the broody raven had rejected her overtures of basic friendliness, and the Uzumaki had long since given up on waiting for Sasuke to get his head out of his ass.

"Break's over! Everyone line up!" Mizuki shouted through cupped hands, ignoring the hateful burn that crossed his chest when the Kyuubi jinchuuriki rose from her seat in the grass and silently sidled over. The remainder of the blonde's classmates formed a bulky trail behind her, and with a shrug Mizuki ushered them back into the classroom.

Greeting the returning examinees with a disarming smile, Iruka launched right into an explanation as soon as the final student found a seat. "We're going to proceed with the genjutsu exam in short order, followed immediately by the ninjutsu exam. If you pass, you'll be awarded your hitai-ate on the spot and sent to room 136 down the hall until the rest of the students are done."

"Good luck!" Iruka told the class brightly, before calling up Aburame Shino as the first to take the test.

Naruko tapped a staccato beat on the top of her desk with her oddly elongated nails. Ignoring the annoyed glares of a few of her more nervous classmates, the blonde only stuck her tongue out and considered what she'd need to do to pass the genjutsu portion. Probably just dispelling something, since she didn't recall the class being taught any actual genjutsu in the Academy.

Bunshin didn't count, even if they were illusions.

"Uzumaki Naruko!" startled her, and the blonde looked up to laugh at a slightly peeved looking Iruka-sensei. "That's the third time I called you, Naruko! If you don't pass today I won't buy you ramen tonight."

Naruko snorted. "Of course I'm going to pass, Iruka-sensei! I'm the best ninja in the whole Academy."

Giving an exasperated but fond smirk, the chuunin shuffled his young charge through the door and giving a wordless thumbs up to the last student waiting to be examined before shutting out the classroom.

"First thing's first." Iruka-sensei began as he crossed the same room used for the taijutsu exam and settling on one edge of the red ring. "The genjutsu portion is pretty simple – I'm going to cast a weak illusion on you, and you just have to recognize it and dispel it."

Agreeing with a barked "Sounds good!" Naruko turned a blue gaze on Mizuki before she strode to stand opposite Iruka-sensei.

Forming three slow hand seals, Iruka sighed out a low " _Kasumi Juusha no Jutsu!_ "

Naruko waited, staring at the chuunin with discerning eyes before darting a quick gaze around the room. Just three white walls...

A hand settled on the blonde's shoulder and she dove to the side, rolling about to face against a shadowy figure. The amorphous blob with indistinct, only retaining the basic hints of human shape. With an amused snort, Naruko brought her hands together in a ram seal and flared a portion of her enormous chakra.

Wordlessly the wiggling blob dissolved away into faint trails of mist before fading completely. Naruko quickly spun about to confirm there were no other dark bodies reaching from the shadows and nothing else obviously different before nodding to Iruka-sensei. "It's done."

"So it is." the chuunin agreed mildly. "I felt the illusion break well enough, so you pass that part. What did the illusion look like?"

Naruko shrugged nonchalantly."A blob. Human shaped, but just a blob."

Humming in agreement, Iruka-sensei returned to take a seat beside Mizuki-sensei and signed off as a witness to her genjutsu grade.

Naruko bounced in place until the silver-haired chuunin shot her a vaguely irritated look. "Now for the ninjutsu portion of the exam. You have to demonstrate the 'Academy Three'."

"Those being the Kawarimi, the Henge, and the Bunshin." Iruka-sensei clarified, reaching down to drag up a log set under the instructor's' desk and heave it across to their student.

Naruko never even made the effort to catch the flying piece of lumber, merely rolling her eyes before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Wood clattered to the ground, followed by the soft pad of Naruko's heels making contact with the polished floors.

Raising a cocky brow, the blonde laughed. "Next?"

Tightening an easy smile on his lips, Mizuki motioned over at the instructor beside him. "Now transform into Iruka-sensei, if you can."

Naruko formed a slow series of seals, carefully committing everything she could observe about Iruka-sensei to memory before calling out " _Henge no Jutsu!_ " Smoke billowed up to cover the short girl's figure.

Reaching a tanned hand out, Naruko brushed aside the lingering smoke and revealed her imitation. Towering at almost twice the blonde's height, a perfect clone of Iruka turned on the spot. Showing off an identical green flak jacket, the same dark black zori and even the odd bandage twining about the man's right leg.

"Looks good." Mizuki confirmed, ribbing his colleague in the side with an elbow before smirking. "Show us a few clones now."

Puffing back to her true form, Naruko absently straightened a wrinkle out of her orange jumpsuit before lazy forming a cross seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" she roared, a blaze of chakra swirling around her. Smoke exploded in the room, clearing to reveal the small space filled to the brim with grinning blonde Naruko's. One reached out and poked a finger into Iruka-sensei's shoulder, confirming the technique's solidity.

Naruko had the strong suspicion that for the rest of her natural life the blonde would never be able to accomplish the original Bunshin no Jutsu. Even before Hebi-jiji told her about the dirty furball rolling about in her gut that got his ass kicked by Hokage-jiji years back, the Uzumaki had struggled to even measure such a tiny fraction of chakra out to use.

Malformed clones were all Naruko was able to form with the original technique, until Ero-Sennin taught her the Kage Bunshin in a fit of inspiration. After confirming with the Hokage that the Kage Bunshin would satisfy all graduation requirements, the blonde promptly gave up on attempting to master the Bunshin and never tried the technique again.

Zeroing an expectant gaze on the row of hitai-ates gleaming on the table, Naruko dismissed her Kage Bunshin with a word and strode boldly across to snatch at one.

Iruka got there first, offering it up with a proud smile. "Congrats Naruko, I guess I'll be taking you out to ramen tonight."

"You bet!"

* * *

"Congratulations to you all!" Iruka called out, striding into the classroom shortly after the last student tried and failed to pass the exam. Taking in the diminished group that made it through the first and easiest trial of their shinobi careers, Iruka crushed the feeling that he'd signed them up for death by passing them.

"As of today, you are all official genin of Konohagakure. However, I'd like you to remember that it's a dangerous world out there." Casting an imploring gaze at his graduation students, the man continued. "Some of you may even die, but I have faith in you – all of you, my students – and I know that all of you will uphold the _Hi no Ishi_ as proud shinobi of Konohagakure for the rest of your lives."

Mizuki gave Iruka a commiserating pat before stepping forward and folding his hands behind his back. "Please rise." the chuunin ordered softly, all playful mocking absent. "And repeat after me."

_"I swear to my ancestors this most sacred oath."_ After pausing to confirm the low drone of recitation and giving all the newly minted genin a sharp look, Mizuki pressed on. _"That to the people of Konoha I shall render unconditional service and that I shall strive to the uttermost end of my strength to uphold the Hi no Ishi. I shall be prepared to give my life for this oath, or else become faithless and accursed."_

Naruko mumbled along with the rest of the graduating class, dropping down into her chair as soon as the solemn speech was finished and tugging at her ear nervously. Watching as Mizuki gave a last significant nod and strode from the room, Naruko gave Iruka-sensei a shaky grin when the man stepped forward.

"You may request to see your individual test scores at any time after today. But first, before dismissing you I'd like to offer further congratulations."

Confused mutterings met his words as Iruka swept up two bronze plaques. "First to Uzumaki Naruko, I'd like to officially recognize you as the Top Rookie of this year's graduating class. You did well." Tossing the engraved award across the room, Iruka's eyes warmed when Naruko caught it and blushed.

"Secondly, for scoring both highest overall exam mark and a perfect score, I'd like to award this to Uchiha Sasuke. You did well."

The raven contemptuously snatched up the plaque and shoved it into the pocket of his white shorts.

Iruka frowned instinctively at the rudeness before giving a genial shrug. "You're all dismissed for the day. Report back to this room tomorrow at 0900 for your team placements."

* * *

One step closer to _him,_ Sasuke decided as he glided through the doors and took his seat at the back of the room the following morning. A small step, and a late one considering how young his brother had been when _he'd_ made genin. But then Itachi grew up the favoured elder child in the household of Konoha's premiere clan leader, learning directly under his father's tutelage as a boy.

Only Okaa-san consistently spent time with Sasuke, being the one to gently teach him the proper way to hold a kunai, how to throw a shuriken, how to use wire as a weapon… The only thing Sasuke had learned from his father was his prized Goukakyuu, at the very end of his childhood, before Itachi destroyed his innocence.

Sasuke wondered if his father had never suspected there was something _off_ about Itachi, whether he'd ever have bothered to teach his younger son anything at all. Ironically Sasuke's greatest teacher had been Itachi. It had been the elder brother that smoothed out his childish hands and taught him real lethality in his movements, refining Okaa-san's affectionate teaching into skills more deadly than any of his peers.

When he killed Itachi, Sasuke dearly hoped the man regretted ever teaching his younger brother the right way to kill.

A huff cut into his thoughts, and Sasuke turned to glare at the Uzumaki girl when she flopped down next to him and plopped her feet up on the table. "How… elegant," the Uchiha murmured sarcastically, smirking at the annoyed scowl Naruko sent him.

The bell rang at the stroke of nine, quieting the tittering children into anticipatory silence. Even Sasuke found himself tracing an absent finger over his hitai-ate when Iruka stepped into the classroom with a clipboard in hand.

"Hello again." the overtly friendly chuunin greeted, smiling at the group and beaming particularly affectionately as Sasuke's neighbor. "This class is lucky to have fifteen graduates, so we don't have to have any squads with extra members too few."

"Now I'll announce the teams starting from the top with Team Four..."

Tuning out the low drone of Iruka reading off the list, Sasuke folded his hands under his chin and waited. He had no real team preference, just as long as his jounin-sensei was strong enough to get him to the next level, that was all that mattered. It wasn't like Sasuke intended to stick around with his peers, he had a man to kill.

"...Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruko will form Team Seven under Hatake Kakashi."

Sasuke blinked in surprise before glaring. He'd missed who would complete his team besides the blonde idiot, and he knew that there was someone else since Iruka said all the teams were three... to ask Uzumaki or not to ask?

On the one hand, he hated appearing unknowledgeable. It would definitely make him look like a fool to have missed his own team placements. But did he hate not knowing more?

"I wasn't paying attention. Who else is on our squad?" Sasuke grunted after a moment, leaning an ear closer to his obnoxious blonde teammate.

Blue eyes narrowed in confusion before Naruko shrugged. No water off her back. "Haruno."

Muttering an "I see." Sasuke fixated on the door and waited, reluctantly listening as Iruka paired off the so-called Ino-Shika-Cho trio under the Hokage's son. Chatter started back up for a split second before the classroom door slid open.

"Team Eight?" A dark-haired woman called out, scanning the room with red eyes and settling on the quiet Hyuuga girl rising from her seat to hurry across to the jounin. Joined a moment later by Aburame and the shaggy Inuzuka, the three students filed out after their new sensei.

A few more teams went out to three more non-descript jounin, and Sasuke sneered inwardly. One was a feeble-looking man with glasses, another was a redhead woman in a lab coat, and the third was to a bald brawler with an undoubtedly soft head. Weak – stronger than him at the moment perhaps, but no where near Itachi's level.

The Hokage's son came and picked up his three little clan heirs in a stink of tobacco, the first jounin sensei to really move with a sense of lethality and Sasuke was briefly jealous. The first woman had seemed more skilled than the other three, but the Uchiha was quite sure that whoever this Hatake was, he'd be nowhere near as good as having a _Hokage's son_ as his sensei.

Minutes ticked into hours, and Sasuke grew ever more irritated. Sakura gave in after the first hour and began to peruse a textbook left abandoned in her desk. Naruko was worse, fidgeting more and more in her seat as the hours rolled on.

The clock struck eleven with a loud chime, and Sasuke finally snapped at her "Would you stop that!"

Blue eyes shot back at him, glaring in a dark fury. "Well excuse me for getting bored because we've apparently got a lazy-ass sensei who's probably face down drunk somewhere."

"Maa, I don't know about _drunk_." interrupted, and all three genin turned to face the door in a whirl.

An easy-going jounin grinned at them. Or at least Sasuke assumed it was a grin from the way the man's only visible eye crinkled over a mask hiding the rest of his features.

"I just got lost on the road of life." the jounin mused, shoving hands in his pockets. "I'd have to say my first impression of you guys is that... I hate you. Meet on the roof."

Then Hatake simply vanished, and Sasuke's eyes widened unwillingly. There was no smoke, no technique, no dash. Just pure unadulterated speed.

"For a jounin he doesn't seem very reliable." Haruno pouted before the trio trudged out of the room in search of a stairwell.

* * *

Kakashi hadn't been lying when he told his new team that his initial impression of them was terrible. It may be slightly unfair of him to expect them to be perfectly happy waiting around for him, but the infighting spoke of a dislike that could be fatal in a team.

This would be the first team he'd truly be _forced_ to accept. If he had to, Kakashi was more than prepared to beat them bloody until they figured out they were a team unit. Obito would have expected nothing less, and Hatake wondered if he'd even be able to forgive himself if a team – his first team at that, even if he'd been _made_ to take them - died on his watch.

Shuffling onto the rooftop, the three children observed him through silent eyes and Kakashi found himself recounting a little bit of his initial dislike. Those were strong eyes, and maybe this team could amount to something in the end after all.

"Take a seat and introduce yourself. Your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future. That kind of thing." the jounin ordered, waiting as the trio scanned the roof before shrugging and settling down on crossed legs. "First you - pinky on the right."

Sakura opened her mouth, darting green eyes about before closing her jaw with an audible click. "I have no idea what to say." the girl admitted. "Perhaps you could introduce yourself first sensei?"

"Me? Well, my name is Hatake Kakashi." Squinting up at the sky in mock thought, the jounin drawled, "Things I like and things I hate? I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future? Never really thought about that. As for my hobbies... I have lots of hobbies."

"So all we learned was his name?" the blond on the left muttered, pinning him with a mutinous glare. Kakashi grinned back at his sensei's daughter.

"I'm Haruno Sakura." the pinkette piped up after a moment. "I like my friends, reading, and playing trivia games. I dislike Naruko." Green eyes glared at blue as both girls scowled. "My dream for the future is to become the strongest kunoichi in the world!"

Not a bad ambition, even if it was a high place to aim. After all, Tsunade of the Sannin had been a giggling little girl once upon a time. Though the animosity towards her teammate was worrying.

After a moment, Kakashi sighed "Now you blondie."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruko. I like ramen, Iruka-sensei and Ero-Sennin and Hebi-Jiji and Hokage-jiji-" Naruko paused for a breath before frowning. "I dislike the three minutes it takes ramen to cook and _Sakura_. My dream is to be acknowledged by everyone."

A silvery brow climbed up at the wistful tone Naruko finished her introduction with, filing away the fact that the animosity in his team was two-sided. "You're up, broody."

Glaring at the nickname, Sasuke growled "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have a lot of dislikes and don't really like anything. I hate the word 'dream' – it suggests that what you want won't become reality. I have an ambition to restore my clan and... to kill a certain man."

The fixation on Itachi and the overall negativity wasn't unexpected, but Kakashi couldn't help but wish his team was one that wasn't going to be saddled with so many issues. An inferiority complex, a vengeance fixation, and a stubbornly antagonistic girl if her sneers to the other two teammates were anything to guess by.

Kakashi had his work cut out for him.

"Well that's enough for today." the jounin decided. "Report to Training Ground Three tomorrow morning at 0700 for your genin exam."

"Didn't we just do that?" Sakura pointed out, wrinkling her brow in confusion.

"No. That was merely to decide which of you in the class had the potential to become genin. Mine is an extremely difficult exam with a sixty-six percent failure ratio. If you fail the test tomorrow I'll have you sent back to the Academy for remedial training."

Finishing with a cheerful "Oh, and I recommend that you don't have anything to eat tomorrow for breakfast, you'll just throw it up."the jounin vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"This sucks." Naruko muttered after a long moment.


	2. The Bell Test

Sakura yawned widely, rubbing at her dry eyes as Naruko sidled up through the early morning chill. The blonde silently joined her other two teammates in waiting for their sensei.

Tugging her red cheongsam a bit straighter and passing her fingers to count the brace of kunai strapped over her compression shorts, Sakura scanned out over the dew-covered field and sighed. "Why do I have the feeling he's going to be late again?"

"Probably because we could all see that he's a lazy bum yesterday." Naruko snorted, folding her arms and craning up to look at a cloud rolling by overhead.

A faint curl of a smile pulled at the corner of Sakura's lip before she remembered who exactly she was talking to and frowned with a huff.

Leaning back into a tree, Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and idly counted over the handfuls of shuriken in both.

"I suppose if I pointed out that I wish I was on a different team," Sakura began with a poisonous green gaze at Naruko. "That you'd agree with me?"

"Damned straight." the blonde nodded without any real bite, blowing her bangs out of her eyes with a huff.

"Shut up." Sasuke cut in, ignoring the irritated gazes the two females shot him. "Teams are broken up when a shinobi makes chuunin anyway, so let's just get there and never have to look at each other again."

Blinking in surprise at the taciturn boy, Sakura shrugged "We just became genin. It'll probably take awhile to get that far."

"I know someone that became chuunin when he was ten, so it can't be that hard."

That drew Naruko's attention, pulling the blonde away from her bored cloud-watching to stare at the Uchiha with a curious blue gaze. "Oh yeah? Who's that?"

Sasuke clammed up, turning away from the girls with a grunt and burying memories of Itachi into the silent corners of his mind where they belonged.

Irritated at the dismissal, Naruko clawed out at the boy's indigo clad shoulder and spun him about. "Don't ignore me! I asked you a question, _teme_!"

A sneer crawled over Sasuke's face as he violently shook off the blonde's hand. "Don't _touch_ me, usuratonkachi."

"Well then don't ignore me, _dobe_!"

Rage lit in black eyes and Sasuke drew out his fists, stepping into Naruko's personal space with murderous intent.

Heaving a long-suffering sigh, Sakura glared at the bickering pair. "Idiots the both of you."

Naruko didn't even turn away from the Uchiha, meeting him sour look for sour look. "Shut your mouth, forehead-girl!"

A long languorous clap cracked through the air as Kakashi interrupted the impending squabble. "Well done." the jounin pointed out in sarcastic tones. "Unable to go even half an hour without tearing each other apart – you three are really shaping up to be one of the most efficient squads in Konoha's history."

"You're late!" Sakura and Naruko barked in twin accusatory shouts.

Kakashi shrugged, more than a little annoyed to be drawn away from his typical early morning grief to babysit a trio of selfish brats. "Half an hour, of me watching you wait." the jounin agreed, oblivious to the sudden burst of indignation from his students. "Though with a performance like that I'm not sure you three should even be out of your diapers, much less here waiting for me."

The three genin glared in outrage, but subsided into sullen silence at the upheld hand of their jounin sensei. "I hope you three didn't eat breakfast." Three stomachs gurgled hungrily and Kakashi smiled, crinkling up his eye with amusement.

"Good." Drawing out two slightly rusted silver bells, Kakashi shook them in emphasis and nodded at the dull jangle of metal. From sensei to sensei the bells had passed to him, and Kakashi would certainly adhere to the handed-down tradition.

"Your test is to take these bells from me before lunch. Anyone who fails to get them will get tied to a stump, and I'll eat lunch right in front of you." Dark frowns crossed the three genins' faces as they realized exactly why they'd been commanded not to eat, and Kakashi loosed a bark of nostalgic laughter. "You need to retrieve one bell, but there's only two. So someone will definitely get tied to a stump, and that person will be the one to go back to the Academy."

Sakura paled as she shot a darting green look at her two teammates. One of the three of them would fail? Determination hardened her face, and Sakura stepped into a taijutsu stance. Well it wouldn't be her!

"Pinky has it." Kakashi noted with approval. "You won't succeed if you don't come at me with the intent to kill."

Leaning away with an intent look, Sasuke drew his hands from his pockets and dropped into his clan's hereditary taijutsu style. Defence was minimized in exchange for raw power and explosive speed, depending on the Sharingan to be truly effective in combat, despite his obvious lack thereof.

Naruko drew her hands up in a cross seal, banking chakra in a low blue surge under her skin, generating a soft wind to ruffle her orange jumpsuit.

Shrugging in a nonchalant motion that belied that interest gleam in his single dark eye, Kakashi clapped sharply. "Okay, let's start!"

Smoke exploded in the clearing as Naruko fired off her Kage Bunshin, filling the surrounding space with identical blonde doppelgangers.

Without missing a beat, Sasuke launched forward in a blur of black and blue movement. Fists swinging out at perceived openings in the jounin's lazy stance.

Sakura leapt in a split second after her male teammate, ducking low and punching a textbook fist at Kakashi's gut.

Determined not to lose to the others, Naruko's clones surged forward in a tide of orange and blonde. The majority leaping at Kakashi with abandon, targeting limbs to wrap around and weigh down. A couple of them reached out to tackle Sakura, downing the girl in a whirl of red and smoke.

Kakashi frowned and turned, lashing out with a swinging heel to pulverize the descending clones. Sweeping back overhead, Kakashi drove the sole of his boot into Sasuke's shoulder, smashing the Uchiha into the grass.

All without withdrawing a pair of lazy hands from his pockets.

Sparing a dark glance at the squabbling blonde and pinkette, Kakashi dove forward and grasped the Uchiha by the collar. Kakashi yanked the boy up, whirling him around with a flourish before throwing him into the crowd of confused blonde clones.

Vanishing in a swirl of leaves, Kakashi reappeared in the boughs of a tree and looked down, watching over his genin. Cursing immediately arose when Sasuke shattered Naruko's clones into smoke with his flying body.

Sakura shoved away the clones gripping her limbs, thrusting a violent fist through one's forehead before swinging out at the other. The blow surprisingly connected with the real Uzumaki's face, cracking into her nose and oozing warmth as a nosebleed began to run down Naruko's face.

Jingling his bells significantly over the noise of the trio, Kakashi sighed before jumping off further into the forest.

* * *

Sasuke spat out red froth, seething over the bloody fat lip he'd earned after Kakashi threw him into a pile of his stupid blonde teammate's clones. It was simply unfathomable why Uzumaki seemed to take every action so personally and was more than willing to fight over it.

Fleeing into the trees had been easy enough after he dispatched the surrounding enraged clones, and with nary a glance back at the two bickering girls Sasuke had done so. He had the feeling that neither of the so-called 'rivals' cared all that much what he did in either case, and Sasuke curled a disgusted sneer.

"Those two foolish little girls don't deserve to be kunoichi." Reverberated between his ears, and the Uchiha found himself nodding his head in agreement. Warm breath puffed against his earlobe "Isn't that what you're thinking, Sasuke-chan?"

Sasuke dove, hands whipping out in a black blur of shuriken against the jounin that had snuck up on him. Dark steel hammered into Kakashi's flesh with hollow thuds, the man's relaxed countenance wavering into smoke a the form of a worn log.

Darting his gaze about in paranoia, Sasuke pushed through leaves and fled at his top speed. Heart hammering between his ribs at the thought of being so desperately outmatched that he couldn't even perceive the jounin when the man came near him.

Exactly like his brother.

A wordless snarl bubbled through Sasuke's lips and the boy twisted in midair. Hammering down on a branch and launching back in the direction he'd come from, the Uchiha clenched a kunai in his murderous grip

_I won't be that weak again._

Green leaves brushed past his face as Sasuke burst through the canopy. The jounin sensei's single visible eye widened minutely at the Uchiha's sudden reversal, but the nearly mad hatred shining in those dark eyes spurred Kakashi into movement.

It was over almost before Sasuke could even perceive it, face shoved in the dirt with the weight of a contemptuous shinobi sitting on his back. A kunai slammed into the ground inches in front of his eyes, and Sasuke twitched.

"Maa, Sasuke-chan." Kakashi mused lightly. "If those two little girls don't have what it takes to be a ninja, what makes you think you do?"

Growling "I'm different from them!" through a clenched jaw, Sasuke renewed his struggles to break free.

"Is that so?" came the jounin's voice, light and airy before it turned dark. "Then show me."

The pressure on Sasuke's back vanished, and the dark-haired boy vaulted up in a whirl of limbs and regained his feet.

Kakashi stood several yards away, one hand resting in his pocket and the other holding open a bright orange book that the jounin was reading with an expression of vague interest. So contemptuous and dismissive of the genin's skill that the man wouldn't even bother to pay attention.

Rage exploded through Sasuke's veins, and with a roaring in his ears the raven flew through a familiar sequence of hand seals. _Snake. Ram. Monkey. Boar. Horse. Tiger._ Air filled his lungs, coiling with chakra in his gullet. _The manipulation of fire. The mind of an Uchiha..._

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Fire flew from his lips, a stream of heat and light that coiled inward and swelled into a giant rolling ball of flames.

Kakashi's eye widened unwillingly, the jounin shoving his porn literature away with shock.

A genin shouldn't have enough chakra just after graduating for that kind of jutsu.

The jounin sunk under the flying fireball. Wood crackled as several trees went up into merry flames, smoke flying up to curl into the azure sky.

Sasuke sought out the form of the jounin, scanning the trees and grass for the shinobi's tall form or for a charred corpse. And the thought that he might have overdone it and actually killed the man sent a frisson of panic through him.

"Below you." came the voice with amusement as a firm hand settled around his ankle and dragged the Uchiha into the earth. "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshuu no jutsu." Leaving only Sasuke's head poking out of the dirt like an absurdly oversized pustule, Kakashi rose up and settled a hand to ruffle dark locks.

"You're not bad." the jounin admitted before giving a shrug. "Well you know what they say about an exposed nail – it should be _hammered down_. "

An unforgiving fist slammed into the crown of Sasuke's head, reducing his vision to a churning mess of stars, filling his ears with ringing.

* * *

Sucking in a surprised breath, Naruko stared at the crackling horizon with wide blue eyes. "What the _fuck_ is that?"

Naruko only weighed her thoughts for a moment before rushing across the field and into the woods in the direction of the burning trees.

Flashes of light through the canopy passed overhead as the blonde drew near to the conflagration. The heat it gave off able to be felt from a significant distance away.

Contemplating what she could possibly do to end the forest fire – because _damn the test she didn't want to be blamed for burning down the woods –_ Naruko was only able to choke on her spit when a huge twisted dragon made of water crashed through the trees.

The heat was extinguished in an instant before the elemental beast lost its form and simply rolled in a tide directly at the blonde. Waves crashed over her and Naruko found herself gurgling and twisting through dark muddy water in an effort to gain the surface and just _breathe_.

Pain radiated through her spine when Naruko crashed into a mighty oak, splaying over the trunk like a rag doll as the water trickled away. Falling into the mud with an inglorious splat, Naruko spat out the mush coating her face and rolled woozily onto her back.

Kakashi towered over her blocking out the light of the sun through the trees, and the blonde drew in a shaky breath. "What the fuck was that for _b-bastard_?" Naruko croaked, shoving her elbows into the ground and lifting to a sitting position.

Huffing a sigh, the jounin cast a dark glance back through the woods. "Oh just Sasuke-chan getting a little frisky."

Naruko gaped. "That was _Sasuke_? Where the hell did he learn to burn down the woods? What kind of irresponsible jackass does things like that?"

Snorting with amusement, Kakashi settled a hand on the girl's shoulder and pulled her to her feet. "An Uchiha one."

The two stood in silence for a long moment before blue eyes turned intent. "I don't suppose I can bum one of those bells off of you?"

"Not on your life."

"Well damn."

Chakra pulsed, a instinctive swell as Naruko fell back into her most familiar and effective technique. The amount of energy the blonde could summon was greatly diminished after her earlier efforts against the jounin and the lengthy tangle with Sakura, but it was still enough to fill the trees with clones of the battered girl.

Yelling in unison, the clones descended in a blonde and orange wave to surround the jounin. The real Naruko reached out a flashing hand to grasp toward the pair of rusty bells adorning Kakashi's waist only to be smacked away with a casual backhand.

Crashing back into the mud with a twinge that echoed through her sore ribs, Naruko grit her teeth and rose with a determined expression. Watching with a careful gaze as Kakashi whirled about, Naruko searched for an opening.

The jounin moved at barely a fraction of his true speed, slapping away Naruko's clones with contemptuously lethal ease. Some were dispelled by the careful thrusts out of his arms and legs. Other perished through over-extension – legs or arms seized after a failed strike and snapped with the practice of an experienced killer.

Naruko repressed the shiver in her spine at the deadly, blank look drinking in the light in Kakashi's exposed eye. Shattering the last clone with a puncturing thumb through an eyeball, the jounin merely dropped his hands to his sides and stared at Naruko.

Shoving aside her intimidation, Naruko forced her hands to hold steady as she formed another cross seal. Clones again descended on the man, spurring him back into the killing motions and the blonde drew on every ounce of her tactical acumen.

Chakra reserves dwindling lower and lower, Naruko knew she wouldn't be able to wear Kakashi down through keeping him constantly engaged with waves of clones. She'd tire long before he did and it would be totally useless.

Naruko didn't know any explosive or overly powerful jutsu that could take Kakashi down either. Simply what they'd learned in the Academy and the Kage Bunshin she'd learned in order to pass the exams.

That left trickery.

Flushing with the effort of dragging chakra up from her somewhat depleted reserves, Naruko released another waves of clones with a shout – the smallest group yet – and waited. Waited for Kakashi to whirl back into his destructive dance, not concerned with the touching of clones because they were harmless and destroyed at a touch from the jounin.

Waited until the man turned away to dispatch another clone and Naruko flashed her hands. Soundlessly switching with a clone with even a hint of smoke, Naruko blinked at the sudden closeness of the jounin's back and reached out with desperation.

A bell jingled.

Red exploded in the side of her vision as Kakashi's fist swung back faster than she could even perceive, slamming into the side of her face like a speeding wagon and sending the blonde flinging through the trees.

Concern faintly flashed in Kakashi's eye as the jounin stabbed through the last clone and flung through the trees after his injured student. He hadn't been really expecting a switch with her clones, since the girl didn't come across as a very intelligent thinker.

Still, she was the Rookie of the Year and Naruko never would have attained the title if she'd been stupid.

Touching down on a limb, Kakashi peered down as the blonde curled into a ball and spit blood from a split lip. When she stumbled back to her feet, the jounin was satisfied the girl wouldn't need medical attention and vanished to seek out his last assigned student.

* * *

Sakura rolled to her feet with a groan, pressing a pale hand over her swelling cheek and seething with rage. What a fine teammate the blonde was turning out to be, getting into a fist fight with her not minutes into the exam that determined if they'd truly become genin or flunk back to the Academy.

Well it was irrelevant, Sakura only had to get a bell for herself in the end. Kakashi-sensei had said at least one of them would have to return, and the Haruno would be more than pleased if it was the blonde shrew that had to spend another year studying.

Stupidity was not one of Sakura's weaknesses. Unlike her headstrong teammates, the pinkette had a vague conception of the sheer difference between the meager skills of Academy genin and the near mythical figures of accomplished jounin.

Kakashi-sensei had probably slain dozens of men in his time, and with a shudder Sakura knew that she had no chance of defeating the man in hand-to-hand combat or with her limited ninjutsu skills.

Casting a considering glance around the abandoned clearing they'd begun their exam in, Sakura chewed her lip and set to work. The instructor had to return at some point – for all his talk about them seeking him out, Sakura theorized that it would more likely be him seeking _them_ out. No genin could realistically hope to track a jounin, so the instructor would track them out and test their mettle in an effort to force them to show skill and take a bell from him.

When flames leapt on the edge of the horizon with a distant roar, Sakura flinched and began to hurry her motions. Apparently their instructor wasn't above using ninjutsu to drive them off, which further drove home the point that she had absolutely no chance in beating him in open combat.

Water rushed through the trees minutes later, extinguishing the blaze and causing Sakura to frown as she retreated from the edge of the trees and began to spread out her work. It was probably Uzumaki causing the man so much trouble, since Sakura had sincere doubts that the dead-last of the class could really force such a fight from their sensei.

It stung Sakura to admit that for all the blonde's obnoxious ways and general oddness that the girl may really deserve to be called the Top Rookie of their age group. Sakura had proudly held that position for several years after enrolling, only surrendering it to Uchiha the first year they'd been classmates and before the Massacre. Then she'd had it stolen from her again, except that time by the weird orphan girl her parents always warned her away from.

Unclenching her fist, Sakura smoothed down her dress and turned to face the trees. And waited. Waited as sweat began to bead down her brow from the sun's heat pounding overhead. Anxiety thrilled through her. What if her sensei never came?

Kakashi did come, melting from the underbrush like a grey ghost. Settling an impassive look on the pink-haired girl, Kakashi cocked an ear at the rustle of the wind before stepping forward.

"Hello Sakura-chan." he greeted jovially, grass rustling under his feet. "Not coming to get a bell?" Tutting in fax-disappointment, Kakashi tapped his masked chin. "That's a bit of a surprise, you seemed so eager before."

Green eyes glimmered with amusement. "Why would I need to go get a bell when you're bringing it to me?"

A creak of rope was all the warning Kakashi had when a large stump came flying out of the underbrush straight at the side of his head. Bending forward with ease as the wood whistled by, Kakashi's eye widened unwillingly when the ground before his eyes exploded in a shower of dark steel.

Trapped between the thick trunk on one side and shuriken on the other the jounin leapt to the side while bent over. A sizzling hiss was all the signal Kakashi had before the ground under his feet exploded in white fire.

The jounin flipped backwards away from the exploding tag to land on a tree branch that instantly gave way beneath his feet. Dropping towards the ground as a net shot up, Kakashi whipped out a kunai and sliced through the grasping net.

A further trap was triggered when two suspended logs swung down to attempt to catch him in the middle. Stumbling forward to avoid the trap aiming to squeeze his head like a grape, Kakashi smirked in reluctant amusement as a snare wrapped around an ankle and yanked him heel over head to dangle from a rope.

"I have to say I'm impressed." Kakashi informed Sakura when the pink-haired genin cautiously crossed the field towards him. "That much strategic foresight is something I would expect out of a chuunin, not a genin."

Flushing with pleasure, Sakura nodded happily and reached for the pair of bells shimmering in the sunlight at Kakashi's waist.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm a jounin."

Sakura only had a moment to blink green eyes in confusion before a snare wrapped around both her legs and dragged her away with a shriek.

Cutting himself loose in a single smooth motion, Kakashi dropped to the loam and spared an eye for his student swinging from a tree and wrapped in a cocoon of ropes.

Kakashi glanced at the position of the sun overhead and promptly dug _Icha Icha Paradise_ out of his pouch. Ignoring the frustrated struggles of the girl dangling from a nearby branch and her pleas to cut her loose, the jounin read his literary porn until the sound of an alarm clock rung out over the training ground.

* * *

Spitting out a clump of dirt, Sasuke ran a tongue over his gums in a last ditch attempt to clean out any remaining soil from his time spent buried up to his neck in the ground. The Uchiha spared a sour look for the impassive jounin looming over the trio of genin and shuffled in an attempt to reduce the chafing of rope into his skin.

Being hogtied to a stump was degrading enough. Sasuke had no desire to add cramps and rope burn to the list of things that had gone horribly wrong since getting out of bed that morning. The only relief was that his two teammates were also bound to their respective stumps on either side, Kakashi sitting on top of Sasuke's stump with crossed legs.

Reaching down to further mess up the arrogant Uchiha's hair, Kakashi sighed and pried the lid off the first of four bentos. Showcasing the onigiri and mochi to the three obviously hungry children, the jounin slowly tipped the bento and drunk in the cries of outrage as the food poured out onto the ground.

The second bento followed the first, and then the third. By the time Kakashi was dumping the fourth and final bento out for the wildlife to consume, the three had gone silent with defeated looks. "I wonder," Kakashi began, staring at the last grain of rice tumbling out, "If the three of you are even serious about becoming ninja."

"Of course we are!" Naruko exploded, kicking against the ground uselessly. "Do you think we'd be wasting our time taking tests if we weren't?"

"If you can't pass the test, you can't be a shinobi." Staring into a pair of blue eyes with his single grim look, Kakashi trailed across the Uchiha's sullen face and settled on the shamed Sakura. "These tests aren't fun and games. They're meant to make sure you have the knowledge you need to survive in the world outside of Konohagakure."

"Are you really that naive?" The jounin's voice turned harsh as he snapped a cold glare back at the jinchuuriki. "If the three of you brought the attitude you had today to a mission, you would've died. If I had wanted it to be so, none of you would have left the training ground alive."

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke pointed out, "Because you're a jounin." An elite shinobi with all the experience and skill that rank requires.

Snapping back "No. Because you three hooligans aren't even a team! Working together, you might have managed to get the bells." Kakashi traced a weary hand over the hitai-ate concealing Obito's eye. "Sakura and Naruko couldn't even make it a minute without fighting amongst themselves. And rather than catching you that first time I threw you, Naruko turned on you as well. Sasuke, you were only marginally better by running off on your own and at least not fighting with your comrades."

Furrowing her brow in confusion, Sakura muttered "But there's only two bells. Weren't we supposed to fight among ourselves?"

Slashing an impatient hand through the air, Kakashi scowled. "No! You pass or fail as a team. This test is designed to see if you're able to put the mission before your own interests."

Swallowing thickly, Naruko looked down at her toes and peered up at the agitated instructor through dusky lashes. So it was back to the Academy after all.

Rising to his feet, Kakashi sidled over to settle a hand over a dark ink black slab of stone and sighed. "Look here at the names carved on this stone." the jounin called out, turning to eye the three bound genin with a sidelong glance. "These ninja were recognized as heroes to the village after dying in the course of duty."

"It's a memorial." Sakura whispered in a hoarse tone, peering at her teammates and drinking in the stricken looks on their faces.

"My best friend's name is carved on here, along with the rest of my team." Kakashi pressed, gripping the stone with emotional force. "Most of Sasuke's family is recorded here." The jounin didn't miss the pitying looks the two girls gave the young Uchiha as he whirled about.

"Wouldn't you agree that your conduct today is shameful before their sacrifices?"

Sucking in a breath, Kakashi threw his face back and closed his eyes to listen to the wind. The three genin were silent, hanging on the jounin's every word. "By all rights I should fail you three right here."

But unlike every other team that had been thoughtlessly passed to Kakashi, the Hokage had assigned the trio with strict orders to enroll them in service no matter the cost. The Council was salivating over the thought of training a jinchuuriki up into another weapon for the village, and it had been years since the world had seen the might brought to bear by the Uchiha Clan of the Leaf.

There were too many political concerns to fail the three, not that Kakashi would ever admit it to them. "I'll give you one more shot." the jounin sighed, ignoring the looks of relief flooding the faces of the trio. "We'll meet up at the same place at the same time tomorrow. So help me, I'll hammer you three into a real team or kill you all trying."

Sakura paled even as Naruko squealed with joy.

Grunting out tiredly, "Welcome to Team Seven," Kakashi turned on his heel and walked off.

"Are you going to untie us?" Sakura called out with confusion.

Snorting in reply, Kakashi turned back. "What do you think?" Then he vanished completely.

* * *

Sauntering into the Hokage's office at the end of the day, Kakashi spared an acknowledging nod for both Asuma and Kurenai. Three other jounin had filed passed him on the way out, joking about having another year off from training brats and another year of lucrative missions.

"I've passed Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino as Team Eight, Hokage-sama." Kurenai spoke after the errant Kakashi sidled up beside his cohorts.

Puffing from his pipe, the Sandaime leaned back in his chair and stroked a liver-spotted hand over his white beard. "I see." the Hokage mused, dark eyes lost in thought. "What about their character assessments?"

Kurenai shuffled nervously, the young jounin given her first team licking her lips and beginning in a steady tone. "They seem to work moderately well together. Hinata is shy and quiet, but has a kind heart and is nonjudgmental. That helps with cohesion, since Shino has probably faced discrimination over his kikaichu like many of the younger Aburame, and Kiba is more boisterous than most. "

Pausing for breath, the red-eyed woman chewed her bottom lip before pressing on. "Shino too is quiet and very polite, where Kiba is loud and friendly. But they treat each other with respect despite their differences."

"I put through Team Ten made up of Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, and Nara Shikamaru, Pops." Ignoring the Hokage's tired glare at being referred to so informally, Asuma drew a long drag from his cigarette and stamped the stick out in an ashtray set out on his father's desk. "Lifelong friends those three. Grew up together, played together, trained together. Ino and Shikamaru fight like an old married couple, but they unite against external threats without complaining at all."

"Very well." Hiruzen smiled before pinning the last jounin with a warning look. "What about you, Kakashi?"

"Uzumaki Naruko, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura pass as Team Seven." Kakashi sighed wearily, ignoring the blatantly surprised looks that the other jounin stared at him with.

"They have no team cohesion at all. Sakura and Naruko broke down in a fight almost as soon as the test started. Sasuke just ran around on his own and they spent the time waiting for me, all the while insulting each other."

Amusement and nostalgia shone in Hiruzen's eyes as he nodded. "Oh is that all?"

Kakashi scratched at his cheek before shaking his head. "No Hokage-sama. I'd like to..." Hesitation cost the jounin, and Hiruzen's eyes narrowed.

"Yes?" the Hokage prodded, leaning forward and making a silencing motion to his son.

"I'd like to nominate Team Seven for your test, Hokage-sama."

Kurenai looked on questioningly as Asuma snorted with laughter.

Folding his hands, Sarutobi Hiruzen blinked down at his wrinkled hands and turned the thought in his mind. Certainly Team Seven's situation came across dire, but to ask for the special training that the Sandaime had concocted and passed down through his own team? Only four squads ever undertook his devised trials, and three of them were broken as a result.

"Granted." the Hokage sighed with all the immutability of fate. "Don't break them Kakashi."

"I might have to."


	3. The Forest of Death

Naruko was terrified.

Fear was not new to the jinchuuriki. Naruko knew fear like an old friend. Fear of being abandoned. Fear of the violence and the hate directed at the Kyuubi sealed inside of her. Fear of never being acknowledged, never being loved, and never being wanted.

But the fear that their tardy but surprisingly stern sensei nurtured in Naruko was the singularly unique fear of failure. Of having her achievements crushed underfoot and being dismissed from the future she had chosen for herself.

_And that she would never amount to anything again._

Squaring her shoulders and ignoring the cold panic that clawed at the back of her mind, Naruko turned blue eyes to stare at the Uchiha with clinical evaluation.

The bored look on Sasuke's face was an obvious lie. Spine stiff as an iron rod with clenched fists shoved in his pockets and a nervous grind of the heel of his zori into the dirt, the boy was surely as worried for the second chance Kakashi had promised them.

Turning to examine Sakura, Naruko cocked a brow at the much more obvious tension the pink-haired girl displayed. Crouching in the dirt and hugging her knees, Sakura looked out at the world with black-rimmed green eyes. Her rival was perhaps even more nervous than Naruko herself was.

The morning was cool, the faint breath of mist puffing through her lips as Naruko repressed a shiver and stared out over the training ground. Birdsong marked the waking of the world over still silent streets as civilians just began to rise from their beds.

Naruko wanted to complain about their tardy sensei, and spit insults about the man that obviously seemed to enjoy wasting their time as the 0700 came and went, minutes stretching into an hour. But the memory of a disappointed dark eye and a serious voice forced the blonde to hold her typically acerbic tongue.

Eventually the jinchuuriki leaned against a tree and slid down to the ground, dragging a knee up to her chest and yawning with boredom. Sasuke joined the other two in crouching to the ground, setting elbows on knees and threading his fingers together.

Floating down from the trees about came a lazy mumble "Well you're doing better than you were yesterday... by a fraction." Kakashi lay stretched out on a tree limb, grinning like a satisfied cat when the three genin jumped in shock and stared up at the jounin.

Crooking two fingers at the trio, Kakashi smirked. "Yo."

"You're late." Sakura and Naruko mumbled in unison without at real heat, still subdued from the beating they'd received the day before. The two girls stiffened and spared each other a silent annoyed glance, but kept their lips firmly shut.

Kakashi slinked to the ground in a lithe motion, dusting off his flak jacket before jerking his chin to the north. "Come along little ducklings."

All three leapt to their feet, Naruko and Sasuke shoving their hands in their pockets and Sakura tapping her fingers together as they filed along after their sensei.

Traipsing along a vibrantly red bridge stretching out over a winding stream, Kakashi led Team Seven into the waking streets of Konoha. Several villagers gave nods of recognition to the jounin, knowing Kakashi by his legendary reputation. Others passed over the group as they blinked bleary eyes and shuffled along to their jobs.

And some gave Naruko such open looks of malevolence that Sakura couldn't help but take notice and begin to catalogue her surroundings. Green eyes narrowed in thought as citizen after citizen stiffened at the sight of her blonde teammate and either glared, assumed carefully blank looks, or turned away with an expression of pain.

Staring at Naruko's bright orange back, Sakura chewed a considering lip. Several years back the kind of looks the blonde was garnering would be more than expected, considering how much of a little hellraiser Naruko had once been. Painting buildings in the night, throwing eggs at people – varied pranks of both good and malicious nature. But the pranks had rapidly stopped after the blonde turned eight, throwing herself into her schoolwork and stealing Sakura's place as top of the class.

Shrugging, Sakura rose her face to look at the back of Kakashi's gray head. Ultimately it wasn't her business and she didn't care whether people liked or disliked the Uzumaki. Even if Sakura thought it seemed a little odd for people to hold grudges for so long.

Sasuke clenched his fists, seething but quietly obedient. The threat of being stripped of his shinobi status hung over his head like a murderous blade, handled by a deceptively cheery white-haired jounin. Hunting Itachi was something Sasuke would never give up on, official shinobi or not.

But it would be a great deal easier to amass the strength to kill his brother if Sasuke had someone to teach him. So the Uchiha would swallow the urge to walk away from the infuriating older man and bow down for the strength Kakashi could give him.

Kakashi led them through the Northern gates with a silent nod to the two chuunin on watch duty, prompting Sasuke to raise a curious brow. The genin the Uchiha had pulled information out of on his morning rounds all agreed that they would start off with D-Rank missions – mending fences, milking cows, walking dogs, and other assorted _worthless_ drudgery.

So why was the their instructor leading them into the countryside?

Veering off the highway and onto a partially overgrown beaten path, Naruko craned her head about to drink in the surroundings. Trees slowly began to press in on both sides of the pathway, vegetation and humidity thickening the further they trampled over the sparse patches of grass.

Unable to suppress the grin of excitement, Naruko threw her hands up and rested her head in their crossed cradle. Despite the worry of what their odd sensei had in store, the blonde still revelled in the realization that she was finally out of Konoha and exploring the world. Not very far in the grand scheme of things, but it was the first time out of the village's walls and no creepy old jounin could sour that for her.

The free wind weaving through the branches, untainted by the stink of the city. Rustlings of birds and other small critters in the underbrush. The tickling of unmowed grass against the tips of her toes peeking out of her zori. Creeping wild vines wrapping around the trunks of great oaks. All of it was freedom and new life.

Except the gleaming iron mesh fence that appeared before Naruko's eyes when Kakashi led them around a bend in the pathway. Twelve padlocks kept bound a great tangle of chains, engraved with bloody red seals that pulsed faintly with palpable chakra.

Halting before the towering gates, Kakashi drew out a great heavy ring of keys from his belt and fiddled with it to find the first of many keys. Unlocking the padlocks in the seemingly random but very specific order that wouldn't trigger Konoha's alarm system and bring a troop of ANBU down on their heads, the jounin yanked the great length of chain from the fence and tossed them carelessly into the loam.

Kakashi pulled on the great gate, inwardly amused at how easy such a giant construct was to open. Every single time it seemed like it was inviting those unwary to partake of its depths. An invisible barrier stretched and snapped, releasing the true scent of the trees onto the group.

_Rot. Death. Misery. Pain._

Sakura retched at the foul wind, plugging her nose and taking a few desperate gasps before giving in and releasing her nostrils. Glaring at the cheerful jounin as he clapped gleeful hands and turned to face them, Sakura chewed the inside of her cheek in annoyance. "A little more warning next time?"

"You'll get warnings when you earn them Sakura-chan." Kakashi smirked, clearly conveying that they haven't. "Since the three of you managed to _spectacularly_ fail the survival exercise yesterday, I've decided it's time for some remedial training."

Bowing at the waist, the jounin swept a dramatic hand out to the leering forest through the gates. "So for the next month welcome to your new home. The Forest of Death."

"The Forest of _Death_!" Naruko squawked at the same time Sakura stuttered "F-for the next _month_!"

"Hn." the Uchiha grunted, giving Kakashi a sour look.

Incredulously Naruko peered at the suddenly forbidding trees and the wind that seemed less innocent and more violent. "Why couldn't it be the Forest of Happiness? Or Ramen! Or maybe even just the Forest of Not-Being-A-Cold-Hard-Rotting-Corpse?"

Squealing when Sasuke went flying overhead through the gates in a tangle of limbs, Sakura barely had time to blanch when a hand seized the back of her collar and tossed her into the deadly woods. Naruko followed with an enraged scream a second later, leaving three genin to pop up out of the bushes and glare and two grinning Kakashi's at they shut the gates.

Kakashi relocking all twelve padlocks with a gesture and an audible hum as the chakra barriers re-engaged and walked off into the distance whistling.

"Shit." Naruko muttered, patting herself down to check that at least she hadn't lost any of her equipment.

Sasuke sent the pair of girls an annoyed glance and stomped off into the trees, obviously still sulking about being treated like a sack of trash.

Blinking after the boy, Sakura folded her arms and sneered at Naruko before taking off in the opposite direction.

Settling her chin in the palm of her hand, Naruko sighed. "Double shit."

A faint hiss breathed over her ear, and Naruko whipped about to pin an overhanging purple snake with a blue eyed glare. Further hissing drew her attention to a host of the reptiles slithering towards her through the bushes.

"Triple shit!" the blonde screamed out as she took off into the trees.

* * *

Cradling his pale white jaw in a languid hand as he lounged against the Hokage's desk, Orochimaru flickered amused gold eyes to his sensei before smirking at the White Fang's son.

"What a delightful surprise Kakashi-kun." the snake purred, raising a dark eyebrow. "There hasn't been a team signed up for our trial in twenty years. I wonder what ever will _become_ of them." Grin widening at the stiffening of the jounin's spine, Orochimaru sauntered across to the window.

Twenty years because of the four teams to try Hiruzen's desperate concoction that the Sandaime had made to fix his dysfunctional genin team, one became the Sannin and the other three snapped under the pressure and went homicidal later in their careers.

"These things will garner you quite a reputation." the Commander of Konoha's ANBU and Head of the village's Research Division pointed out as he stared out over Konoha.

Hiruzen poured the last of the ash from his pipe into the trash bin and stared at the Yondaime's student over his hands. "Are you sure this really was warranted?" the Hokage fretted, thinking of his successor's daughter and the undeservingly harsh hand she'd been dealt in life.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Kakashi answered immediately, folding arms behind his back and standing at attention. "As I said, there's no team cohesion. I reviewed their files before I made my request. Naruko and Sakura have been at odds for years, and it doesn't take more than an offhand comment to set them at each other's throats. Sasuke doesn't care about anyone or anything besides killing his brother. If it were any other team..." he trailed off regretfully.

"If it were any other team." Orochimaru agreed, crossing his arms over his flak vest and narrowing his slitted gaze at the Hokage mountain. "You know as well as I do, Hiruzen, that Danzo has been salivating for years for a chance to get his hands on Naruko-chan. Your teammates aren't much better than him. If we were taking our time with her as we'd desire they'd be arranging something around us."

Frowning with regret, the Sandaime suppressed the urge to light up his pipe again and rubbed a wrinkled cheek. "Homura and Koharu have the best interests of the village at heart. Even Danzo does." Ignoring Orochimaru's scoff, Hiruzen gave in to his craving and lit his pipe again. "But they're so _misguided_. How did I let them get so cruel when I wasn't looking?"

After a moment's pause, during which Kakashi shifted uncomfortably, Orochimaru sighed. "It's not that those three hardened their hearts, sensei - it was you that became soft. When we were children you pushed us harder and faster than I've seen anyone here do in years. Minato-kun's reputation brought us more peace and stability than we've had in generations, and you were glad for a Konoha that didn't need children to murder and be killed anymore."

"Maybe if your sensei still lived we wouldn't have a Konoha that returned to those bloody days." the snake sennin concluded with a nod at Kakashi. The jounin looked confused, but Hiruzen's eyes tightened at an unspoken name that floated between them.

_Itachi._

Coughing loud and wet, the Sandaime shook his head before turning back to Kakashi. "I assume that you'll be assigning them the customary three days reprieve?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Winking with morbid humour, the Hokage dismissed the jounin with a last command of "No permanent maiming, Kakashi."

"Not physically, Hokage-sama."

Orochimaru snorted.

* * *

Breathing in the chill night air, Sasuke cast a dark glance up at the thick canopy and strained his eyes to perceive more than vague shapes in the gloom. With the leaves of giant trees blocking out the starlight and only faint streams of moonlight managing to power through, the darkness of the Forest of Death pressed in on all sides.

Faint trickles of paranoia stirred in the Uchiha's muscles that he ruthlessly stilled through force of will. Despite being a shinobi, supposedly trained to kill both emotions and his enemies, Sasuke was still a human with all the primal instincts and fears of his distant ancestors.

Including the burning bile that whispered _fear_ and _prey_ in the night at the back of his throat.

Palming a black kunai with a sweaty palm, Sasuke crouched low over the hanging limb he had managed to scramble up to before light perished and peered down. There was a distant impression of solidity that the Uchiha assumed was the ground, and hoped wasn't actually moving slightly across the forest floor.

Either his eyes played anxious tricks or there was some beast prowling around the base of his tree in the night. Sasuke wasn't sure which he preferred.

Oh, but to have Sharingan! Red eyes that conferred the sight and strength that was his birthright. Gritting his teeth, the Uchiha seethed over the thought of failing to achieve his clan's doujutsu when _he_ had activated and mastered his at an early age.

Pinning the writhing motion with a venomous glare, Sasuke sent a frustrated kunai flying through the dark in a futile attempt to burn away some of the fury that always clouded his heart.

An inhuman shriek echoed back up to him, an unholy and torturous wail that trailed off with a burble. Sasuke paled, wrapping legs tighter around the branch and clenching shuriken in two white-knuckled fists.

Sleep was impossible, and by the time dawn finally broke through the thick foliage Sasuke had managed to slay two more of the creature's comrades with flung projectiles. The faint light illuminated the forms of impossibly massive wolves, the first one torn apart by its fellows in a grisly display of cannibalism.

His eyes ached.

* * *

Being alone was an old experience, marked in with day after day as a little girl staring at her walls with no friends and no precious people to be with. Even after Jiraiya had scooped her from the streets and found her a new home, Naruko only had four white walls for company on most days.

Sometimes she would read scrolls the Hokage gifted her, or sometimes she would find a place to train thin arms and a childish body into the shape the life of a kunoichi demanded. Naruko's favourite thing to do however, was wander the village or simply sit on her balcony and take in the world.

Padding the streets of Konoha with a fake grin and pretending that the cold eyes didn't bother her – that people stared at her with admiration. Or she would dream that Naruko wasn't that blonde jinchuuriki brat, but rather a beloved daughter with kind parents waiting at home. Sometimes she would pretend to be someone else – henge into the form of some random child and bitterly drink in the kindness strangers offered her once Naruko was wearing an anonymous face.

Naruko decided that the aching solitude of the wild was different. Within Konoha and even at her most isolated, the blonde had still been keenly aware of the people that surrounded her. The citizens of the Hidden Village ignored her and turned their backs on the jinchuuriki, but the villagers were still _there_. Filling up the hungry silence with their own movements and conversations, a low hum that hung on the edge of hearing and reassured Naruko that she was never truly alone.

The Forest of Death was appropriately named – for the death that swelled in it. There was no birdsong, no wind in the willows, no distant voices of human beings. Just the silence of the grave.

Staring down at a stagnant forest pool, Naruko bent low and peered into the grimy water to take in her reflection. Whisker slashes marked her cheeks, tracing under high cheekbones and over pale skin like black paint. Her eyes were visibly only as hollow caverns in the distorted sockets of her skull, leering back out of the pond scum with a macabre grin.

Naruko shuddered and stepped away. Hunger and thirst were constant companions in the trees, two days passed with only the barest intake. Water was gleaned from the dewy canopy shortly after dawn when the sun had yet to burn off the faint traces of moisture. Naruko didn't trust the water she had encountered – it reeked of disease.

The sharp knife of hunger that plagued her was dulled by the few berries Naruko could find in the bushes. Furtively glancing about the foreboding woods for the lightning movements of snakes in the underbrush. The blonde had vomited twice when she unsuccessfully attempted to find edible mushrooms.

Shaking her head, Naruko pulled out of her musings and tugged open her orange jacket. The forest was overly humid and after spending a day covered in sweat, the blonde had decided that baring her mesh undershirt to the world was a fair tradeoff to cool down.

Naruko shoved her finger into her pouch and hooked it around the loop of a kunai, bringing the dark blade out to spin around her digit as she whistled and wandered through the trees. Not having a map or some form of direction was more than annoying. But what could she do besides survive the rest of the month wandering aimlessly?

Merely surviving wasn't _that_ hard.

* * *

Wrinkling her nose at the faint smell of her own sweat and body odour, Sakura stripped off her clothes and dunked into the river. Smiling at the cool, clear water rushing past, the pink-haired girl dunked her head under the surface and let the tangled mess soak through.

Four days in this miserable forest, surviving by following the river. There was more than enough clean water for Sakura to drink, but she had yet to encounter anything larger than a few scampering rabbits. Food was hard for the girl to come by, but her propensity for reading ahead ensured she knew more than enough about which plants were edible to have a hearty, if vegetarian diet.

Wading up to where the water just touched her waist, Sakura sent a suspicious glance around her. Satisfied there were no underwater critters liable to swim up and bite her, she scooped a handful of sand from the river bottom and began to scrub vigorously. There was no soap or shampoo to use, but Sakura absolutely refused to allow herself to stink. Even on a survival trip into the woods.

Which was an odd enough thought. Survival wasn't that hard despite the forbidding name of the woods being called 'The Forest of Death'. Sakura laughed at the absurd tendency for dramatics that whoever named the woods had. The trees were overgrown and abnormally thick, and if Sakura wandered deep into the woods the dark canopy blocked out enough light to be intimidating in the night. But she'd hardly encountered any creature that truly justified such a title for the woods.

Little did the girl understand that the Forest's true danger lay not in its natural fauna, but in the _human_ predators that could be found within.

A hand settled over pink locks, and Sakura shrieked and dove forward. Whirling about, Sakura pinned Kakashi with a poisonous glare and ducked down into the water to hide her nakedness.

"Pervert sensei!"

Kakashi merely stared blankly at the girl as she shrieked obscenities and shuffled further downstream away from him. Shuttering his eye closed, Kakashi drew in a slow breath and began to follow. Waterlogged clothes dragged around him, and his hands were wet when he settled a cold gaze on his student.

Swallowing nervously, Sakura shuddered in fear at the change in demeanor the jounin displayed. Kakashi always came across as jovial and teasing, or at the worst disappointed and serious. Not empty as the man looked reaching out for her now.

Frozen in an agony of indecision, Sakura's stilted thoughts couldn't settle on fighting or fleeing into the trees when and gloved hand settled around her throat. She had a single second of panic with the concern of – _Oh Kami what if he's going to_ touch _me_ \- and then she was under the water.

Sakura blinked almost dumbly at being submerged, squinting green eyes up at the surface and taking in the water-distorted image of her sensei. Sluggish thoughts connected, and Sakura screamed. Bubbles burst forth from her lips as she struggled, digging her nails into the indomitable hand wrapped around her neck.

Burning rose in Sakura's lungs as she struggled, writhing about in a frenzy of desperate punches and kicks that only struck at the iron muscles beneath Kakashi's clothes. Dark tendrils began to crawl into the corners of her vision and Sakura ruminated bitterly that she'd die naked and drowned by a man she trusted.

Then air was rushing past her face, and Sakura gasped greedily. The pounding in her ears subsided as Kakashi held her aloft and permitted the kunoichi to suck in precious oxygen. Once satisfied she wasn't going to pass out from lack air, the jounin shoved the girl's head back under the water and waited for her struggles to weaken.

Again the strength passed out of Sakura's body, and Kakashi yanked her from the cool river depths and flung her to the shore. Laying limply and huffing desperately, Sakura made no effort to move until Kakashi slammed a kunai into the dirt next to her head.

Eyes wide at the dark blade shoved into the ground hilt deep, Sakura rolled away from him and crouched. Pure primal fear was written in her face as she silently accused him with her green gaze.

Tense seconds ticked by until Sakura managed to calm her mind long enough to remember her nakedness and cover prepubescent breasts and genitalia with her hands. Flushing red, the kunoichi began to edge towards her rumpled clothes while keeping a wary eye on the silent adult.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked her coldly as she reached a shaking hand out for her red dress. Clenching a brace of kunai between his fingers, the jounin twitched them in silent warning. "I am here to kill you, and your first concern isn't to kill me first, but to get your clothes on?"

Halting with an outstretched arm, Sakura blinked away tears and glared at the man. No words were exchanged, but in that moment Sakura found the nerve to disobey the jounin's implicit warnings. She shot forward, reaching to sweep up her clothes.

Shuriken hammered into the red dress, nailing it to the ground seconds before Sakura tore it up. Great rips rent along the fabric as the pink haired girl clutched the bundle to her chest and took off into the wilderness.

Kakashi watched her go, humming all the while before turning off into the forest in search of his other students.

Leaves flashed by as Sakura fled naked through the trees, branches tearing scratches along her pale skin and pulling at her hair. Sobbing out "He's a lunatic!" Sakura pushed herself until her lungs were burning and her legs wobbling like jelly.

Casting a cautious look about her, Sakura shimmied into her undergarments and pulled on her dark spats. She held out her cheongsam mournfully, eying the tears in the dress with sad eyes as she resigned her favourite dress to the trash bin. She'd have to bin it as soon as she managed to escape the insane forest.

The first three days had been so deceptively easy that Sakura was convinced it wouldn't be any real hardship to survive the month alone in it. Even if she was _lonely_ there. But it was obvious their sadistic sensei would hunt them all.

Sakura needed to get out.

Frowning at the gloomy woods around her, the girl picked a random direction and set off with a kunai in a tight fist.

* * *

Naruko panted, a low ragged sound as she struggled to regain her wind. Sweat poured down her back and into her eyes, soaking the tattered remains of her iconic orange jumpsuit and mixing with the muck to produce a truly foul odor.

Peering back through the quiet forest, the blonde frowned "Did I lose him?" Shaking her head, Naruko rubbed a knuckle against the quickly healing shallow gash over her eyebrow. "Not a fucking chance."

The ninth day had dawned with a kick in the ribs, shattering her fitful sleep as her sadistic sensei booted her from a crevice between two branches. Faint dark rings shadowed under Naruko's eyes, giving tell to the hectic cat and mouse game she played with her jounin-sensei. Even the Kyuubi's influence couldn't fully stave off the creeping exhaustion.

Deciding not to test luck, the blonde formed a hand seal and transformed into a small orange fox and shuffled off into the undergrowth. Naruko's bastard of a sensei was unlikely to be far behind, and she didn't have time to waste if she ever intended to escape Kakashi's _tender mercies_.

Naruko pressed her nose to the ground, inhaling and detecting with no small relief no scent but that of the forest. Through the days the blonde had come across faint trails of her two teammates, and traps from Kakashi almost inevitably followed.

Pushing through the bushes, Naruko cocked a dark ear at the sound of rushing water and cautiously meandered toward it. The blonde had nothing to drink in hours, and after sweating and working to run from the crazy jounin Naruko could use a drink.

Wuffing irritably, the vixen broke into a trot as the land began to slope down towards The River. Naruko capitalized it in her mind because in all her wanderings of the damned forest she'd only ever found one place where constant fresh water and fish could be found. There was a tower to the rough center of the fenced-in hell, but the one time Naruko had ventured towards it in an effort to find shelter and food Kakashi-teme had instantly appeared and kicked her ass.

Breaking into a run as she stepped out into the blank stretches of field alongside the river, Naruko drove towards the river and jumped in. The blonde gulped down as much water as her empty stomach could hold with an expression of bliss that was odd on the face of a fox. The blonde gave herself a few short minutes to luxuriate in the feeling of water washing some of the grime from her fur before she pulled ashore with a huff.

One day she would murder Kakashi in his bed. And burn his orange books.

Naruko padded along towards the trees, confident that since her self-appointed tormentor hadn't shown up in a long while she may have been lucky enough to lose the bastard. As she reached the greenery, Naruko curled under a bush and released her transformation. Chakra machine she may be, but it was exhausting as hell to have to maintain an intensive henge for so long.

Settling a blue glare on the tree line across the narrow valley, the blonde drew her knees up her chest and chewed her lip. What an asshole her sensei was, chasing her around the damn woods and never letting her stop to sleep or eat much of anything.

A slow blink.

Hebi-jiji had laughed at her when she told him all about what kind of missions she'd go on as a kunoichi. At the time Naruko had thought the bastard was making fun of her, but maybe his smirks and remarks were his way of passing information along?

Another blink.

_'You're such an innocent little thing Naruko-chan. How little you know of the world.'_

Naruko drifted off, tense muscles relaxing into restful sleep for the first time in days. The wind brushed gently over the valley, ruffling the leaves of the bush concealing Konoha's jinchuuriki as she dreamt of a ramen feast. Drool trailed out of the side of the girl's lips as she savoured imaginary sustenance and submerged in better days.

Pain.

Burning pain lancing through her right shoulder, dragging Naruko awake in a strangled shriek of terror. Cerulean eyes flashed ruby as the blonde snapped her head about, going pale with pain and fear at the scaled crocodile sinking fangs into the meat of her shoulder.

"Let go!" she shouted reflexively, lashing out with her unhindered fist at the reptilian predator. Naruko punched and scratched in a desperate frenzy, blinking tears of agony away as the blond struggled to force the creature to release her.

It merely growled in the base of its throat and clenched its jaws harder. Fangs sliced through fatty tissue and into muscle, cracking bone under the pressure of the crocodile's jaw. Screaming with the pain, Naruko grappled for something – anything - to beat the lizard with, scrabbling hands in the dirt and throwing any small pebble or stick at the animal.

Reduced to a primal frenzy, Naruko never even hesitated when the familiar feel of steel was nudged into her reaching palm. Slicing through the air soundlessly, Naruko drove the point of a kunai between the cold-blooded beast's scales.

The crocodile went wild, bringing stubby clawed paws up to scratch at its poorly chosen prey's face.

Ignoring the hot seep of blood from the gashes rent into her cheeks, Naruko struck again and again. The blonde tore the blade through the flesh of her enemy, rending it with stabs and maddened sawing motions.

Eventually the struggles of the crocodile grew weaker as the loss of its cold blood and the grievous injuries took their toll. Deadly jaws released their hold on Naruko's broken and torn shoulder, giving the Kyuubi's chakra ample space to begin healing.

Naruko continued to tear into the animal like a creature possessed, until a twig cracked underfoot. Leaping to her feet with an uncivilized roar, blue eyes in a red face spun to pin a sheepish looking jounin with murderous intent.

Growling out "Stay away!" without any apparent recognition, Naruko made a quick abortive motion to throw her kunai before thinking better of discarding her weapon. The girl pressed a hand to her throbbing wound, adrenaline still riding high as she shuffled off into the deeper gloom of the forest.

Kakashi stared after her, reaching up to scratch the back of his head as he contained a wince. "Probably not the best idea."

Arranging for Naruko to be woken up by a suitably intimidating predator had been as easy matter, and when it seemed like the girl might truly be in danger the Hatake had subtly shoved a kunai into her hand and ensured she'd live to fight another day.

But there was something profoundly disturbing about the sight of Minato-sensei's daughter looking through him without any understanding besides that of _threat_. Wild blue eyes above blood-soaked cheeks and a fanged snarl.

Perhaps a little more delicacy when handling the jinchuuriki would be better?

* * *

Sasuke's fingers shook, drumming an unsteady tattoo of exhaustion against his leg as he dragged himself through across the canopy. Each step measured, each swing branch to branch carefully chosen for soundless movement as the twelfth night crowned with a half moon. Bloodshot dark eyes scanned through the night, tracking from pale shafts of light and into the concealing dark.

Nothing.

At least yet.

Hatake was a damned machine. A constant predator that unerringly followed him through the days and haunted his nights. It was as if the jounin never tired, conditioned to hunt the flesh of men without surrender like some fairytale creature of nightmare.

Gritting his teeth at the gap between their skills – the stinging knowledge that the jounin was so far above the training Sasuke had so painstakingly amassed, Sasuke settled a cautious hand over the tree's trunk. If Hatake managed to press him down with such ease, what unimaginable gulfs of power existed between Itachi and Sasuke?

_There is no value in killing the likes of you._

Copper stung his tongue as Sasuke bit a lip to contain the need to scream.

Crouching against the trunk, Sasuke drug around in his emptied kunai pouch and pulled out a handful of dark roots to shove in his mouth. They were tough and tasteless, but they were one of the few plants he recognized in the cursed place that had nutritional value. "Fuck." the boy growled as he choked down a mouthful of the dry roots.

"Swearing is impolite Sasuke-chan." Kakashi chided as he leapt from the shadows to thrust a fist at the genin's face. "Should wash your mouth out? Perhaps."

Sasuke went limp, dropping underneath his sensei's swinging punch and sliding bonelessly to the dark forest floor. Bringing his hands into seals, the Uchiha hit the forest floor and forced his dry well of chakra to spit out _just a little more_.

Fire lit the night, blinding and white as Sasuke coughed out a small ball of flame and took off with the hope Kakashi was sufficiently blinded or distracted.

The jounin wasn't, and let Sasuke know with a brace of warning shuriken that tore into the Uchiha's legs. Blood sprayed from the shallow tears in his legs, and Sasuke grunted with the pain before leaping to the side.

Rolling along the ground, the Uchiha pulled to his feet and tossed his last brace of shuriken in the face of the approaching jounin.

Kakashi reached out and hooked a languid finger through one before wheeling about to deflect the others in a bright shower of sparks.

Scowling with annoyance, the Uchiha pushed forward and swung down an axe kick that the jounin caught with an iron grasp. Sasuke automatically pulled his other leg about to drive his heel into Kakashi's shoulder and smirked when he felt it connect.

Sasuke snarled at his own ineffectuality when the Hatake shrugged the blow off with similar ease and grasped his other foot.

Whirling the genin about, Kakashi tossed the boy into a tree and watched passively as Sasuke collided painfully with the bark. The jounin stepped forward as the Uchiha struggled back to his feet, pushing up his hitai-ate and catching Sasuke with a red gaze.

 _Sharingan!_ Sasuke realized with shock as he caught sight of the red eye with three tomoe, his mind forced to whirl through memories he desperately wanted to remove. There was no time to wallow in the past, or even to wonder where exactly Kakashi had stolen the dojutsu after the man gave him a tremendous backhand.

Pain exploded in his cheek as Sasuke stumbled away, keeping a furious stare on his family's implanted kekkai genkai. "Where?" was what he managed to pant out before Kakashi planted a heel in his chest and kicked him off his feet.

Digging his nails into the dirt, Sasuke shoved back to his knees with an expression of pure rage and consuming hatred. Was this all his efforts managed to amount to? A toy to be kicked around at the leisure of some lazy, perverted, _thieving_ jounin?

"Fuck!" Sasuke cursed again, dredging up chakra and spitting fire in Kakashi's face.

Kakashi burst into smoke, replacing himself with a log that promptly incinerated in the wake of the Uchiha's technique. Shaking his head at the boy, the jounin drew a kunai and dashed in from the corner of Sasuke's vision.

Then drove it into his throat.

Sasuke blinked, failing to comprehend to sharp pain in his neck. His eyes ached as he trailed an incredulous gaze up to the impassive jounin that had shoved the dark steel into his trachea. Pale lips struggled to form syllables as Sasuke attempted to question it. The choice to murder.

_Why?_

_Why nii-san!? Why?_

Bitterness rose in him. A slow song of despair and grief as Sasuke gurgled on his own fountaining blood. Warm and cloying as it slid into his lungs and drowned him. Tears sparked in the corner of his vision as Sasuke felt death rising up to exert its claim. Was this all he'd ever amount to? Just another forgotten runt of the Uchiha clan, left behind by his stronger brother to wallow in mediocrity and then perish?

_His eyes burned._

No! Vengeance was cold and unforgiving. Itachi called behind the horizon – a singular discordant note that mingled rage and grief. Every moment was dedicated to that destruction. Endless days of solitude marked by the thrum of muscles that pushed beyond their limits. Sasuke refused to die here, raging against the dying light of his vision!

_I won't say "good night"!_

Sasuke's eyes _opened_ , a tide of black and crimson that glowed in the dark and spun. A single tomoe swirling over hateful red irises that pinned Kakashi with a look speaking of the unquenchable fire within.

The genjutsu popped like a dirty soap bubble, peeling away as the world righted itself and Sasuke found himself with his back pressed to a tree. The first tree he'd been thrown into, the first time he'd beheld his sensei's stolen eye

Another Sharingan orb blinked in surprise, curving up in a mixture of annoyance and pleasure. "Aa." Kakashi vocalized, moving forward in a blur towards his student.

Sasuke caught the dash, marveling in his new ability to finally perceive the jounin's stride and begin to move against it.

But Sharingan eyes or no, he was still a genin, and the only difference was that he could actually _see_ it when Kakashi hammered a fist into his temple and sent him spiralling into unconsciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

Black receded, giving way to a throb between his ears and a foul taste in his mouth. Sasuke groaned, cracking open his eyelids to stare blearily at a distant wall of green. Birdsong tweeted merrily, and the Uchiha winced at the noise.

Twitching numb fingers, Sasuke attempted to reach up and rub his gritty eyes.

Attempted was the operative word.

Swearing at a tight squeeze all along his body, Sasuke glared down at the thick twirl of rope surrounding him and binding him to an overhanging tree branch.

Craning his head as far as his tightly bound position permitted, the Uchiha stared at the rosy horizon in confusion before fully processing his predicament.

He turned an incredulous look to the distant green forest floor and emptied his stomach of its meager contents.

Spitting the last dregs of bile from behind cracked lips, Sasuke shimmied his bound limbs in an effort to test the freedom he was allocated.

It wasn't an overly tight fit, which meant his bastard of a jounin sensei intended for Sasuke to wriggle free sooner or later. The Uchiha moodily considered remaining still as a matter of spite, but quickly dismissed the half-hearted idea and began to pull against his restraints.

His entire form, save for the head, was covered in swirls of rope like some kind of demented caterpillar. Squeezing free was a process that consumed Sasuke's time and patience, and more than once the Uchiha shouted curses about the jounin responsible for the mess he was in.

"Insane, inbred maniac!"

Finally Sasuke managed to squeeze forward enough to hang half in and half out of the loosely woven cocoon. Blood rushed to the Uchiha's head as he rolled about to face the sky.

Sparing his surroundings a cautious glance for the eventual return of the evidently sadistic Hatake, Sasuke reached up and pulled free.

His clothes were damp with sweat, mud, and the faint traces of blood. Wrinkling a nose at the stench building from his filthy attire, Sasuke swung his hips about before reaching for another branch to try and swing along the canopy.

Weakened by lack of movement and circulation however, Sasuke's numb fingers misjudged their grasp and let the Uchiha drop to the ground.

Crashing to the earth with a gasp, Sasuke stared up at the sky and drew slow careful breathes into his lungs and waited for his heart to pump oxygen rich blood through his veins.

Pins and needles stabbed over him hotly, and Sasuke grimaced as he reached up to massage a blue-clad shoulder.

"Asshole." he cursed faintly, sitting up and scanning the surrounding foliage again. If there was one thing he'd learned from his prick of a sensei, it was that one could never be too careful about their environment.

A pale hand came up to rub across his throat in memory of the genjutsu. Even if it had been fake, and even if Sasuke had struggled free, the illusion left a psychological mark.

Such was the fragility of his life – able to be totally undone and destroyed in a distracted second. Undoubtedly the harsh genjutsu would have driven him into unconsciousness if not for his eyes.

Black swirled tiredly into red, glittering lit bloody rubies as Sasuke threw back his head and laughed. Sharingan at last! Tearing the hitai-ate from his forehead, Sasuke held the dull metal up to the light and polished it with his thumbs and spit until he could perceive the distorted image of blazing crimson eyes with a single dark tomoe in each.

Still weak and underdeveloped. Just a fraction of the strength Sasuke's clan and blood possessed. But it was the _beginning_. The first true step in closing the bloody ocean stretching between Itachi and Sasuke's capabilities.

"Itachi," the Uchiha breathed as he marveled over his changed eyes for another long moment before stuffing the hitai-ate in a pocket and tracking his enhanced vision back across the environment.

Shafts of light from the mid-afternoon sun slanted down through the forest surrounding him. Motes of dust floated in the illuminating light as Sasuke panned his gaze. Trees in all directions, the Uchiha noted with a frustrated sigh. The raven had no idea how much time he'd lost after being beaten down by Kakashi, but it had been at least half a day - if not more. Sasuke suppressed a shiver. Being out for too long after a hit to the head could mean brain damage.

The Uchiha clearly had no idea that it had been two and a half days; a vaguely worried Kakashi had come back to force chicken broth and water down his student's unresponsive throat. The sensei had pressed green-wreathed fingers to Sasuke's temples to calm down the faint cranial swelling. Days of malnutrition, and the stress of a new Sharingan activation on the Uchiha's nervous system did not bode well.

The faintest suggestion of a shimmer danced on the edge of his vision, and Sasuke dove for cover beneath a thick patch of underbrush. A heavy pulse thrummed in his ears as Sasuke held his breath and strained to hear anything in the trees.

Birdsong, the rustle of wind over leaves, and faint bubbling of distant water were the only stimuli his ears could detect.

Had he merely caught a glimpse of light bouncing off of the top of the river? Sasuke hoped desperately it was something so innocent, not the reflection of his terrifying sensei's forehead protector. There was nothing to be done for it but to go and see.

His head ached faintly with remembered pain, and the last thing the Uchiha wanted at that moment was to encounter Hatake. Sasuke had absolutely no doubt that if it truly was Kakashi, the jounin would come hunt him down if he attempted to sneak away.

Better to go and see. If it was simply the river, he could get some water for his aching throat and wash away the taste of vomit. If it was Kakashi, he might as well get his daily beating over with.

Pressing ahead cautiously with crimson eyes bright and alert, Sasuke crawled through the underbrush, body tensed with anticipation.

* * *

It began with the sound of a snapped twig in her ear.

Clumsy.

Naruko crouched in the bushes, exhausted eyes darting around in every direction. Her heart lurched into frantic motion, signalling for a rush of adrenaline to snap her out of the lethargy of sleep. Naruko drew the last remaining kunai from her pouch and drew in a sharp breath.

No more twigs broke. There was a conspicuous absence of rustling clothes or the faint clinking of metal on metal. Only natural sounds of the forest remained, and Naruko bit down on her lip until she tasted blood. The blonde had seen Kakashi flashing in the woods across the river, probably chasing one of her 'teammates'.

And now the jounin sensei was here for her.

Shrinking in on herself, Naruko drew the filthy dark orange scraps of her once vibrant jacket closer. Another twig snapped, agonizingly close. _Just on the other side of the tree!_ Naruko held her breath. Clenching the handle of the kunai until her knuckles went white, the Uzumaki tensed and leapt.

She'd get Kakashi before he got her.

Except it wasn't Kakashi, she realized with comically wide blue eyes as she skidded to a stop. It was Sasuke. And he was _ruining everything_.

Seizing his dark locks with a filthy hand, Naruko ignored the way his surprise faded to outrage and dragged him after her back into hiding.

The blonde covered the Uchiha's mouth with a filthy, dirt-caked hand as Sasuke opened his lips for a furious question. "Shut up!" Naruko hissed a whisper. "Do you _want_ our sensei to find us?"

Sasuke suppressed his retort instantly, shoving her hand away and creeping up beside her to scan the opposite bank with a pointed, crimson gaze. _Sharingan_ , Naruko realized in an absent corner of her mind, recalling old lessons from Hebi-jiji about Konoha and the people within it.

They both ignored the mingling of the sour scents of their body odor and vomit. Neither was in much of a place to complain about the other, considering their own situations.

They scanned the opposite bank of the river frantically, looking for traces of the jounin that had only recently been hounding their pink-haired teammate through the trees. That much had been easy to tell by listening for high-pitched shrieks of indignation and fear.

Wood creaked, a deliberate and weighty sound that rose over the audible life of the forest. Then the two genin darted from hiding, diving out of the bushes with their hands already weaving into seals as they turned in unison to face the boughs above.

Sasuke brought curled fingers to his lips and blew a short, focused breath. Fire exploded from the Uchiha's mouth and collected into a small ball of flames as Kakashi descended from the canopy with a kunai in each fist.

Gleaming with the dull, blue sheen of channeled chakra, Kakashi split the fireball in halves with a casual swipe. The jounin landed in a crouch, only to have a dozen frantic blonde Kage Bunshin leap at him with furious cries.

Snatching Sasuke's wrist in a bruising grip, Naruko dragged the unwilling Uchiha away from the whirling dance of combat and plunged deeper into the forest. Sasuke resisted for a moment before swallowing his arrogance and following the blonde in a frenzied rush through the trees.

The duo ran until their lungs and legs burned from the effort, forced to stop by the weakness of their own flesh.

Panting with exertion, Naruko looked back at the clear broken trail through the trees they'd left and shook her head with dissatisfaction. It only took a nudge for the sweating and flushed Uchiha to stumble after her through the underbrush.

Both understood that the trail they had left behind was far too obvious, and that the more distance they could put between themselves and it, the better.

"Damn bastard." Naruko wheezed, reaching out to steady herself on a nearby tree as she nearly slipped over a root. "I'm starting to wonder if he's actually trying to kill us."

Shaking his head with disagreement, Sasuke gave his weapons pouches a quick pat down. "Can't be." Seven shuriken and three kunai. "Otherwise he would have just killed me instead of putting me under genjutsu to make me think he did."

Silence hung for a moment as Naruko digested that, drinking in her surroundings and grinning at her newfound sense of familiarity. "Sounds rough." The blonde commented as she traced her fingers along the body of a particularly thick tree. Sasuke grunted with agreement.

The bark was dark, twisted, and ancient. Thick and tough, but with a hidden vulnerability. Almost invisible to the naked eye, the blonde's fingers quested along the trunk until she found a depression where the bark felt weak and soft.

Hooking her fingers under the skin of the tree, Naruko pulled.

Revealing a small hidden depression in the bark that had evidently been covered over new growth as the tree aged, the blonde stepped inside. Faint carvings in the wood showcased the names of the few prospective chuunin who had found the naturally grown hidey-hole.

Naruko ignored the _'Sakumo was here'_ as she stopped shoving the skin of the tree away. Darkness flooded the little hollow, black as the void. "I found this place a few days into the test when I was running from Kakashi-sensei." She explained as she turned to look at the silent Uchiha.

Red glimmered faintly in the darkness as Sasuke's underdeveloped and weak Sharingan struggled for some kind of sensory input. "I never found a place like this." He admitted, stung slightly by the realization that someone else had found a useful place to hide away, where he had miserably failed.

Both spoke in quiet whispers, keenly aware that even if they were hidden, the bark separating them from the outside world was not all _that_ thick. Their jounin sensei could have been standing on the other side of it for all they knew, ready to plunge a blade into the dark and inflict a world of pain.

But so long as they were quiet, and didn't breathe or speak too heavily, they had a small space away from the rigors of combat. And with the remembered feel of crocodile teeth in her shoulder, Naruko had little problem sinking to her bottom with her back propped against the wood of the tree and knees drawn to her chest.

The near constant fear was not what Naruko had expected _at all_ from becoming a kunoichi. Pain? Yes. Fighting? Absolutely. Loss? She'd be damned if she gave anyone or anything up, but she still knew that she could lose people. But fear of existence was not something the blonde had ever prepared for. The constant awareness of how to escape the next beat-down, of how and when to flee, and the realization that sometimes she was so absolutely outclassed she could do nothing was humbling. And terrifying.

Naruko knew that even if she survived Kakashi's crazy survival training and decided to keep being a ninja that she would never be able to go back to what she had been. There was a gulf too wide of pain and threat of annihilation between the present and that rose-tinted childhood.

Innocence lost.

Swallowing thickly, Naruko ignored the pounding heartbeat in her veins and listened. They may have been hidden, but there were not safe. They might never be safe again.

Naruko refused to release Sasuke's wrist; she hadn't let go despite dragging him a considerable distance through the trees during their mad dash away from danger. In the dark silence, there was an unspoken desire for human contact as they huddled in the heart of a tree.

Sasuke did not complain.

Nor did he move to break the contact.

* * *

Dispatching the last of Naruko's shouting clones with a lazy kick to the temple, Kakashi stared off after the fleeing pair of his students. To torment or not to torment was the question of the hour. On the one hand, he could keep the pressure up on them, breaking them just a little bit further. On the other, he could give them a few hours to heal up – heal together, most importantly.

Decisions, decisions…

The Hatake gave a lazy shrug and sauntered off towards the nearest part of Forty-Four's enclosing fence. He had fourteen days or so to spare. Lots of time to focus his hunt for Sakura and drive her towards the other two. There was plenty of time to hammer the three of them together into a halfway cohesive unit.

But first, lunch.

Stepping up to the towering, chakra charged steel fence, Kakashi pulled a strip of sealing paper from his flak vest pocket. The Hatake pressed the premade seal over interwoven links of chain and waited.

Dark ink flared red, burnt orange flames curled out to the edges of the seal and burnt it to nothingness. Metal peeled away with an unnatural shriek, opening a slight hole large enough for a man to step through.

Shoving his hands in his pocket, Kakashi crossed the fence and blinked. The Forest of Death was aptly named; it had a distinct, forbidding aura of violence. Stepping from the world enclosed by the fence to the one outside was left one's head foggy with disorientation. Tension was released from the jounin's shoulders as he turned back to watch the fence fold back upon itself, sealing the forest back up under his watchful eye.

Satisfied that none of his students would be escaping early, Kakashi vanished in a whirl of leaves. Colors blurred by as the jounin's chakra enhanced-speed pushed him beyond the limits of human vision. Shunshin was a technique many shinobi knew, but few ever mastered. It took extremely well-trained vision and a dextrous mind to apply the shunshin over long distances, and particularly to maneuver around complex obstacles.

Kakashi had the qualifications in spades. He stopped in the observation room for training grounds Forty-Four for an instant; he needed to pilfer more of the 'emergency escape' seals that made passing in and out of the Forest of Death so simple for him. None of the chuunin on duty were even aware of his presence. The ex-ANBU agent preferred it that way. In a world of shadows and murder, he who passed undetected was he who survived.

Speeding off towards the heart of the village, he pondered the idea of reporting the chuunin to their superiors for failure of duty. Konohagakure could not tolerate lackadaisical active-duty nin, no matter how skilled their adversary. It was something to decide over tempura.

Home for Kakashi was a cozy apartment, boxed in by passionless whitewashed walls in a seedy district of the village. Home was cheap and worn, but familiar. Home was the comforting sight of dog-eared, lurid orange books scattered about haphazardly. Home was the slight stale scent of barely disturbed air with the rich, sweet smell of cheap food. Home was the faint ding as the microwave finished cooking his convenience store meal, but leaving the center a bit frozen.

_Home was the mission, boxed in by emotionless porcelain masks in the dark. Home was comfortable body armour, well worn and battle-tested. Home was splattered crimson stains, painted over muddy ground by a practiced artist. Home was the metallic tang of blood and decaying corpses interspersed with the tinge of sweat. Home was the whistle of knives in the dark as they darkened the light of another unfortunate soul._

The clack of Kakashi's chopsticks was simultaneously achingly quiet and deafeningly loud in confined space he called his own.

The former ANBU captain frowned at the dichotomy, stabbing the point of his utensils into the deep-fried flesh of his seafood. A sparkle of amusement rang through him as Kakashi considered the likelihood that his three students were all doing their best to hide from him even when he wasn't looking for them.

How fearsome he must have become to the genin.

It was good for their development, the jounin mused as he sipped chilled tea. Their ability to run from him and remain undetected had been absolutely atrocious the first few days. The children were improving though – not nearly well enough to hide from _him_ – but their efforts were noted. They were growing smarter and stronger in response to near constant presence of suffering, hanging over their heads like a blade. They were fighting better than they had when they began, despite their clear exhaustion.

Sasuke's Sharingan was an unexpected surprise. Kakashi wouldn't have thought that it would be so easy to bring the boy's kekkai genkai to bear with a cheap trick. Perhaps Sasuke had been near to activating it anyway. Or he was a genius like his monster of a brother.

Technique could be refined at any point, but motivation to survive would take them further than any textbook.

Rising to his feet, Kakashi dumped the empty takeaway bento in the trash and gave his weapons pouches a quick pat down.

The first thing to do would be deal with Sakura.

Second, to report those chuunin on guard duty for their laziness.

* * *

The moon was waxing, spilling sallow light through the foliage when Sakura stopped to rest. Sucking air into her lungs, the genin pressed a hand to her soaked flank and drank in a gulp of sweet, sweet wind. Coagulated blood ran down her cheek from a shallow cut where one of Kakashi's kunai had flown too close for comfort.

This was insanity! Didn't the man have anyone else to bother for hours on end? The pink-haired girl spared a small pang of guilt for wishing that their sadistic sensei had chosen one of her other teammates to follow around all afternoon and beat the hell out of. Still, better anyone other than her.

The faint limbering of wood groaned into the night, and Sakura leapt to her feet with a nervously darting gaze. Bright green eyes spun wildly as she peered about in the dark. She didn't spot anyone coming towards her on the ground, nor was there anyone in the trees above her, ready to pounce down as she had come to expect.

The fact remained. _She was being watched._

Crackling sounded again, and Sakura reached down to pat her weapons pouch. Empty, the _genin_ despaired before tensing in preparation for a sprint. "Haruno!" was hissed at her, too quiet and feminine to be Kakashi.

Naruko crouched on a branch a few paces away, tense and drawn like a wild animal. Tattered remains of her once cheery jacket hung loose to her thin frame. The darkness reduced normally brilliant blue eyes into sunken pools of black on the girl's dirty face. "Come here." the blonde whispered, motioning her teammate closer.

Approaching warily, Sakura licked dry lips as her fight-or-flight instinct built on the dregs of adrenaline in her system. Naruko grabbed her teammate's wrist while cocking an ear to the forest and waiting for anything out of the ordinary to reveal itself.

Only the low buzz of insects and brush of wind responded. It was not reassuring.

Naruko thinned her lips, gripping Sakura's arm tightly with one hand while reaching behind to hook her nails beneath an irregular patch of bark, in what was quickly becoming a familiar motion. Wood creaked again as it split and revealed a natural hollow where two floating red eyes gazed at them in the pitch.

Wind rustled, poking holes in the canopy to let in a few shafts of moonlight. Sasuke to step forward and drag both girls within before their location was made visible. Bark slapped down, cutting off the light and leaving the three huddled in close quarters, protected by the darkness.

"What's this about?" Sakura muttered, reaching out to fumble for the back wall of the hollow. Shuffling and low curses filled the cramped space as the team nudged around to find a position where they could all sink to the ground in relief.

"He doesn't seem to be able to find us here." Naruko breathed through her mouth, grimacing at the taste of stale air and other unmentionables. A fair trade for some rest and safety at least.

"Guess that's why he decided to chase me around all day." Sakura agreed bitterly, eliciting a low grunt from Sasuke. The sharingan faded away, red shuttering into the dark and leaving the other two with nothing to distract from the utter blackness within their hiding spot.

Minutes ticked by, and ever so slowly Sakura began to _relax_. Days worth of tense muscle finally loosened, now that she had somewhere to exist without constant threat of dismemberment. "Why did you even come and get me anyway?" Sakura asked, rubbing newly calloused hands over her bare knees for lack of anything else to do.

Surprisingly, it was Sasuke that spoke up. Some part of them exposed to the utter isolation they'd experienced for almost two weeks tentatively craved human contact. To find some sense of normalcy and comfort after a marathon of violence. "We've all been through _that_. It seemed appropriate."

 _That_ meaning wild dashes for freedom, pushed to the very edge of physical endurance. _That_ meaning days and nights spent catching minutes of sleep in between one chase and thenext. _That_ meaning the taste of metal in their mouths when Kakashi decided it was time for another round of punishment.

Naruko shivered.

"Well as much as I don't want to work with you, I feel I kind of have to." the blonde began with a mutinous expression neither of the others could actually see. "Sensei kicks my ass any time I try to fight back."

Humming in agreement, Sakura knuckled her eyes in tiredness. "I guess I can deal with you."

"You'd better." Naruko pointed out without any real heat. The blonde was simply too fatigued to muster up a sense of indignation.

"Sleep." Sasuke commanded, Sharingan sputtering back up to shine faintly in the dark. "I'll keep watch. We can switch in a few hours."

The kunoichi were embraced by sleep in moments.

* * *

Feeling marginally more rested, Sakura crouched in the shallows near the mouth of the long river that wound through Training Ground Forty-Four and scrubbed wet sand into her skin with economy of motion. With Sasuke and Naruko standing guard and watching the trees, Sakura felt safe enough to chance a scrub-down, but not safe enough to venture out into the deeper portions of the river for a more thorough cleaning.

The girl's throat closed up in sympathetic memory, scouring the sensation of drowning away until her skin shone bright pink from the friction. Giving the deep, murky water a final inspection in case Kakashi had decided to sneak up on them underwater, Sakura stepped out of the shallows and pulled her wet and tattered clothes on. For the first time in days, even her clothes were partially cleaned. Maybe she truly had belonged to civilization once.

Or at least anything other than the primal, instinctive beast she'd felt herself becoming within a grip of constant fear.

Naruko gave a silent nod when the two girls switched duties so the Uzumaki could get herself cleaned. It was a positive signal that the coast was still clear, and Sakura trained sharp green eyes on the deceptively gentle forest. Save for the trees being so large and the absurdly sized animals, the Forest of Death looked peaceful enough.

Sakura could practically smell the death.

Water splashed quietly behind her as Naruko stripped and began to scrub away with the same intensity that Sakura had. The pink-haired girl still gave quick glances over her shoulder at the other girl every few moments to be sure it was Naruko splashing about rather than their jounin sensei in a silent ambush.

Their truce was tentative at best, and Sakura had a long memory of the many sleepless nights she'd sacrificed in the Academy only to have Naruko come soaring up from dead last to push her down to second place. The Haruno still had no idea where the other girl had found the motivation and training to achieve that. Her fists clenched in habitual frustration.

But it _was_ a truce Sakura mused.

Sasuke switched with a chilled and shivering Naruko as he took the chance to clean up. Both girls did their best to give him privacy and only looked back when he made any especially loud noises. Once upon a time the Uchiha would have been torn between embarrassed and furious, and there _was_ a flush rising in his cheeks as he scrubbed away at his skin. But it seemed almost inconsequential when compared to what he could possibly be experiencing without the two keeping watch for him.

It was a strange feeling to be able to trust his back to someone. The Uchiha didn't trust them to die for him, or go out of their way to make life easier for him. However, he did respect their common goals of staying alive, and three together stood a better chance against Kakashi than one. _For now_ , Sasuke thought darkly - imagining one day being strong enough to peel Itachi's skin from his bones.

Kakashi was pleased that things seemed to be finally coming together when he burst from the ground in a blur of silver and black towards Sakura. Not because the girl leapt back with quick reflexes and put distance between herself and her sensei, though that was a positive development in and of itself.

No, he was pleased that when Sakura dove away with a shriek, Sasuke stepped in with a single tomoe twirling in red eyes and met Kakashi with an effective block. The three were better rested than they had been in days, since Kakashi had given them a day's respite to work out their personal issues and come together.

It showed, both in the renewed energy Sasuke displayed in actually meeting his lazy strikes blow for blow. And in the coordinated way Naruko moved to flank him with Kage Bunshin while Sakura took pot shots with crude thrown makeshift spears and rocks.

The three were simply outclassed, nowhere near skilled enough to beat him. Kakashi saw a dozen niggling holes in Sasuke's offence, and Naruko's Kage Bunshin crumbled beneath his bored strikes. But they managed to coordinate – to actually plan an offence together rather than tearing each others' throats out, and execute it.

So the Hatake swallowed the instinct to crumble Sasuke's form with a single well-placed blow, hammer a kunai into Sakura's neck, or snap Naruko's kneecaps with a brutal sweep when the girl stepped back to replenish her clones. He could afford to give them a little reward for the day, and worry about shattering their complacency tomorrow.

With a faintly pleased smile etched in his visible dark eye, Kakashi allowed himself to be driven off, and vanished into the trees. Some rare positive reinforcement could fundamentally change his students' outlook on teamwork.

The three genin blinked after the jounin's form vanished, confused at having actually _won_ an encounter with Kakashi.

Naruko laughed, giddy and nearly hysterical with relief. Pumping an excited fist into the air, the jinchuuriki turned to look at her teammates with an exuberant smile. "Yatta!"

Pinching her cheek in disbelief, Sakura stared into the trees and wordlessly accepted Sasuke pressing the little spears she'd carved into her hands. "How?" she murmured, stupefied in amazement.

" _How_?" Naruko snorted, jovial mood spreading. "We kicked his ass, that's how!"

A small pleased smirk wound onto Sasuke's face. "Don't get too cocky Uzumaki." He warned, deactivating his Sharingan and ending the drain on his chakra. "He'll be back, and it's not like he was going all out at us anyway."

"Yeah, yeah." Naruko rolled her eyes with an exaggerated hand motion. "I think we've got this one in the bag now."

She was wrong.

* * *

Kakashi shattered Sasuke's concentrated offence to pieces, sliding through gaps in the Uchiha's half-trained attempt at his clan's taijutsu style to deliver punishing strikes to the boy's ribs. He held back just enough not to seriously injure the boy.

Sasuke collapsed in a wheezing wreck once Kakashi drove a heel into the his student's diaphragm. The son of Konoha's Shiroi Kiba turned to grasp Naruko's swinging foot, telegraphed and easily avoided. "I wonder if the three of you understand the concept of _overconfidence_." The jounin clicked his tongue as he swung the blonde around with an iron grip around her ankle.

"I give you a day as a reward for finally working together, and the three of you decide to get soft."

Naruko crashed into a pale, shaking Sakura in a tangle of limbs. The pink-haired girl held a half-formed curse in her mouth as the blonde's forehead cracked into her jaw. Struggling to their feet after a moment of groaning, they were greeted by their sensei standing with his arms crossed and displeased expression etched across his face.

Limping over to the duo, Sasuke favored the jounin with a murderous red glare. Every breath sent sharp pains through his chest as his battered lungs fought through the spasms. "Fuck." The Uchiha swore through gritted teeth, nudging the other two to retreat before the Hatake decided to take the fight to them again.

"You have more potential individually than most teams combined, but that amounts to _nothing_ if you squander your talents and behave like squabbling children," Kakashi hissed.

The sensei craned his head back with an exaggerated stretch, staring up at the stars overhead and humming thoughtfully. "You've got thirteen days left - let's make the most of it shall we?" The smile he directed at the trio was chilling. "I'll allow you a five second head start."

They ran.

* * *

The last day dawned bright and pink, clouds curling away hastily before the rosy-fingered dawn.

Naruko rubbed her dry eyes and ignored the rough sensation of bark against her bare feet. She'd lost her zori...some time ago. Time had lost almost all of its meaning - the only events of note were night versus day, and safety versus peril. Their experiences within the Forest all blended together into a violent collage until it was all that any of them could do to keep track of about how much time was left in this hellhole they'd been consigned to. Losing her footwear just seemed too irrelevant to force her mind into bothering to remember.

Kakashi had just pushed them harder and harder, until even the poor excuses for baths they'd hurried through after their truce became a laughably ephemeral luxury. The idea of bathing separately was abandoned - their demon of a sensei punished frivolity and solitude with an iron fist, propriety be damned. Determining time to eat became ever more difficult once it became clear that they were never free from the jounin's tireless notice.

Unless they took advantage of the times they assumed Kakashi was off eating or sleeping (or reading his porno, the old bastard), there was little to no opportunity for rest. But that was _finally_ coming to an end.

Ignoring the rush of air as Sasuke flew up from the underbrush and settled in a crouch on the branch beside her, Naruko nudged Sakura awake with an elbow.

"Seems clear for now." The Uchiha reported in a mutter. Red faded to black as Sasuke cut his eyes from his severely drained supply of Chakra. He wasn't faring much better than Naruko, with his blue high-collared shirt reduced to covering just his upper chest and back. Sasuke still had _his_ sandals, even if the soles were peeling away like skin off of a snake.

Sakura wordlessly stared at the other two with a hard glare. Paranoia was quickly becoming an old friend. "One of you get some sleep." She ordered briskly, shuffling to another branch to make room for one of them to curl up in the comfiest spot for a nap by the trunk. "Sensei is going to push us harder today than any other I bet. And tonight is going to be an utter shit show."

Manners had a way of degenerating in close company. Telling someone to watch their mouth just didn't have the same impact when they'd seen each other spitting blood and dirt after an infinitely more skilled shinobi handed their collective asses to them.

"Probably." Naruko agreed with a sleepy mumble, leaning against the trunk and closing her eyes with a sigh of relief.

Sasuke watched the girl's state of rest with longing for a moment before shaking his head and rescanning the trees around them. Only one more day, and one more night. He could survive it. He would.

Peeling off the latter tatters of her red cheongsam, Sakura tugged at her thin underbody mesh with a faint expression of distaste. Shame took a backseat to freedom of motion when her life was on the line. Raising an eyebrow at Sasuke's odd look, the girl shook the wadded up red cloth with emphasis.

"Could be used for a decoy."

Motioning at Naruko's ripped jacket with underbody mesh peeking through, Sasuke shrugged. "Ask her for her's too."

"Only if you give up your's too, you bastard." Naruko sighed, not deigning to open her tired eyes to stare at him sourly.

Pulling off the last remains of his shirt, Sasuke handed it to Sakura. Naruko yanked her own off in reply and tossed it over.

"Now, let me sleep," The blonde declared crankily, repositioning herself onto her side.

The air was warm and humid enough that clad in shorts and body mesh, neither girl shivered. Nor did the Uchiha, sitting bare-chested and peering into the canopy.

Scruples had a way of dying when it was a choice between their now trivial compunction against mutual indignity and pain.

* * *

When Kakashi made his way to the forest on the thirty-first day, he was greeted by the sight of his three genin. Grim-faced and half naked on the other end of the fence, the three looked like they almost expected further abuse, or to be left inside for another month.

And as interesting as psychologists would find them to study if left long enough - Kakashi had little intent to let the three children grow any more savage than they had. The Trial had accomplished what had been required.

It had forged three squabbling children into hard-eyed, paranoid genin.

He could work with that.

Chains clattered as the jounin worked through the padlocks in the correct order. Even as the last lock clanged to the ground and the gates creaked open, the three never lost the wary look to their faces. Good. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

Sasuke would have to do a better job hiding the kunai behind his wrist to fool someone like Kakashi, however.

Looking over his bruised and battered team – _his_ – Kakashi smirked jovially, and gave a slow sarcastic clap. Naruko and Sasuke fixed him with twin looks of annoyance, while Sakura sighed with weary resignation.

"Congratulations _genin_. Looks like you graduated from civilian rabble and decided to become common grunts." The sarcasm faded from the jounin's voice as his eye curved in a small but genuinely pleased smile. "I'm proud of you."

Their sensei sniffed at the air with distaste. "Though I would be prouder if you were just an itty bit cleaner." Smirking at the look of shame that flooded the three genin's expressions, Kakashi comically held his nose at the stench of a month's worth of of dirt, sweat, and blood. "I'll see you at Training Ground Three tomorrow morning at 0700. Dismissed."

Sakura blinked slowly, turning about to the south to gaze at the distant walls of Konoha on the horizon. A strange feeling built in her gut and it took a moment for the pink-haired girl to process it as relief.

Steel clanged behind her as their sensei sealed the Forest of Death back up, but Sakura couldn't be bothered to look behind and watch. She was too busy dreaming about the possibilities on the other side of those walls.

Finally, a shower and a change of clothes. After a month of scrounging from the forest, she'd finally be able to eat a decent meal. Sakura was keenly aware of the way that Kakashi's 'survival training' had melted away the last of the baby fat from her frame and left only bones and the beginnings of proper corded muscle. Her mother was going to have a fit when she got a hold of her!

Safety and home called her, and Sakura was happy enough to share a house with the parents that had become more confused and distant over the years if the reward was a roof over her head and warm bed at night. Her parents really did love her, but they didn't wouldn't understand what she had become.

Sakura had taken three unmolested steps in the direction of home when a concentrated burst of killing intent stopped her in her tracks. Heavy and suffocating, the pinkette struggled to breath as she forced herself to turn back to stare at their sensei.

Ignoring Sasuke's pale, sweating, and newly sanguine visage, Sakura focused on Kakashi's deceptively kind facade. There was absolutely no tension that she could detect in the silver-haired jounin's frame. Standing slouched with a dopey grin in his eye, Kakashi reached a languid hand up to scratch absently over his mask.

"On second thought, my cute little minions, I thought maybe we could play a bit of a game first."

Swallowing thickly, Naruko clenched her hands into fist to stop the urge to shake in fear. "A game?" The blonde stuttered.

"Oh nothing too complex, just a bit of fun." Kakashi reassured mildly. "We're going to play a bit of tag. I'll even give you a five second head start if you want."

The grinding of Sasuke's teeth was audible in the tense silence.

"Where's our safe zone then?" Naruko stalled, knowing that tag would merely a euphemism for 'let's see how far and fast you can run!'.

"Your homes." Kakashi shrugged. "Where else?"

Licking dry lips, Sakura sent her teammates meaningful looks. "Is it just safe to be in our own homes, or are we safe in each others' homes?"

Pleased at the assumption that the girl was making – that the fragile truce forged in the forest would persist – Kakashi cut off the suffocating killing intent. "I don't see why not. You're _teammates_ after all."

"Right." Sasuke grunted, straightening to glare at the jounin with all the bravado he could muster.

"Go." Kakashi declared with a yawn.

Blinking in confusion, Sakura stared at the man. "What?"

"Five."

"Shit!" Naruko cursed, launching forward like a human bullet. Sakura and Sasuke cued instantly, falling in behind her as they all pushed their aching and weary frames for every scrap of speed.

Gasping for breath, Sasuke managed to bark "Whose home is closest to the gate?" His was probably the furthest away – the Uchiha clan's deserted compound located in the safest and oldest part of the village. Shoving away the thought of the empty place he lived, Sasuke shot a quick glance over his shoulder.

Kakashi was nowhere to be seen, which meant the jounin was already in pursuit.

"My parents' house is near the Hyuuga clan compound." Sakura wheezed, sweat pouring down her brow.

"Then it's mine." Naruko decided with a wheeze, before all vision was lost in a flash of light and heat.

Rolling through the dirt to extinguish any flames that might be clinging to her shorts, Naruko gaped incredulously. "That was an exploding tag! Are you seriously trying to kill us?"

Sakura pulled her teammate to her feet and dragged the other girl into motion. "Less talking and more running!" the merchants' daughter puffed, sprinting over the uneven fields with the blonde in close pursuit.

Steel whistled in the air, only to be redirected with a clang and soft curse as Sasuke stepped in beside the two and redirected the projectile. "That was my last kunai." The Uchiha informed them, blood rushing to the surface of his pale skin with exertion.

The walls of the village loomed ahead, taunting salvation as the trio turned east to follow along the wall until they found the main gate. The three could practically feel Kakashi's hot breath on the back of their necks, violent and amused, always just a moment from pouncing.

"Hey you!" A stern voice called out as they broke into the final stretch of field. The two chuunin guarding the main gates stared at the three Konoha genin with suspicion. "Stop right there!"

They didn't. Because as much trouble as they could get in from disobeying a superior – a jounin outranked a chuunin and they could always claim to be following the orders of a superior officer.

Warning kunai flew from the guards' hands, inches from punching bloody holes through the genins' legs.

Sharingan no Kakashi appeared, dark and silver with a crimson eye. The two quailed before the legend even as he shouted in a jovial tone that it was just a training exercise. Team Seven cleared the gate, ignoring the gaping chuunin as Kakashi whirled with an axekick that barely rustled the top of Naruko's head.

A panicked shriek bubbled up from her throat, but Naruko clamped down on it before screaming at her teammates to follow her with an incomprehensible noise. Without a second of hesitation, the two genin leapt after the blonde.

Once they were within the village, it became harder for Kakashi to so openly pursue them without provoking some kind of interference from the Hokage's ANBU division. The jounin retreated to the rooftops, following the three children from the sky and tossing shuriken in their general direction when the trio showed any sign of slowing down.

"Come on, come on, come on…" Naruko repeated a breathless mantra as she dove between a few market stalls and pushed past affronted civilians. Their annoyed countenances soured further when _that girl_ was immediately followed up by _that traitor's brother_.

Hope blossomed in the Uzumaki's chest, cresting higher and higher the longer the chase went on when it became clear to her that Kakashi wouldn't pursue so closely within the village. "There!" she shouted as they crossed from one of the poorer outer districts into a more affluent neighborhood.

Sasuke followed the direction of the blonde's pointing finger, fixing a red gaze on the door of an apartment building. There was little to set it apart from the neighbouring buildings, so it was probably one of the relatively newer constructions that had gone up after the Kyuubi attack.

The three hit the door at full speed, almost blowing it off its hinges and not even bothering to close it behind them as they raced to the top floor.

Kakashi was waiting for them, sitting lazily on the window sill on the end of the hall. He favored the three of them with a friendly wave before heaving a brace of kunai at them. Sasuke absently noted a string of barely visible wire threaded through their hilts before shoving his teammates to the ground.

Reeling in the kunai with a jerk before they could hit the wall, and cause property damage, Kakashi sighed. "You know, back in my day we asked politely before we climbed on top of a woman, Sasuke-kun."

Sakura sputtered, flushing red and fixing the jounin with a dirty glare.

Shaking her head, Naruko grabbed hold of both her teammate's wrists and barreled into the nearest door. "Home free!" She shouted gleefully, hoping the jounin would adhere to the rules he'd set before she slammed the door to her apartment shut behind her.

"Unbelievable." Sasuke elucidated.


End file.
